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Violinist and educator Petras Kunca graduated from the Kaunas Ten-Year Music School, studied at the Lithuanian State Conservatory (now the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre; LMTA), and continued his training at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. In 1972, he won the 1st prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Liège, and from 1968 to 1999 he performed as a member of the Vilnius String Quartet. The quartet represented Lithuanian performing arts across Europe, the USA, Canada, Latin America, Asia, and Africa, giving over 2,500 concerts. Kunca’s repertoire includes classical, romantic, and contemporary music, as well as works by Lithuanian composers. His edited versions of scores and solo pieces have been published by both Lithuanian and international publishing houses, and by various recording companies. From 1998 to 2004, he led the Chamber Orchestra of Pedagogues, and in 2006, he founded and directed the Akademija String Quartet. He has written many articles and given numerous interviews for the media, and has delivered presentations at academic seminars and conferences on the psychology of chamber music. Professor Petras Kunca’s pedagogical career spans more than 60 years. It began at the Vilnius Balys Dvarionas and Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Schools of Arts, and then continued for 38 years at the Lithuanian State Conservatory (since 2004 – the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre; LMTA), where he first taught at the Department of Strings and later at the Department of Chamber Music (1974–2012). Around 300 students and postgraduate artists studied with professor Kunca in his violin, string quartet, and chamber music classes, many of whom have become laureates and diploma winners of numerous competitions, have participated in international events, and are now actively engaged in creative work both in Lithuania and abroad. As head of the Department of Chamber Music (1996–2008), prof. Kunca made a significant contribution to the internationalization of LMTA. He initiated long-term international projects that continue to this day, encouraged active participation of students and teachers in the ERASMUS mobility programme, advised LMTA faculty preparing for studies or teaching assignments at European music universities, and invited professors and students from European institutions to take part in LMTA-organized activities. During this period, Vilnius hosted international chamber music festivals for students from music academies of Baltic and other countries’, masterclasses, competitions dedicated to the performance of Lithuanian composers’ chamber music, and ongoing Alexander technique seminars for students involved in stage performance. Since 2007, the LMTA Department of Chamber Music has been represented in the European Chamber Music Teachers Association (ECMTA). Professor Kunca also contributed to the development of the International S. Vainiūnas Piano Competition, expanding it with the inclusion of chamber ensembles, gaining membership of the international Alink-Argerich Foundation. Prof. Kunca was a long-standing member of the LMTA Senate, a member of the Senate Ethics Committee, initiator and president of the LMTA Alumni Association, a board member of the Lithuanian Musicians' Union, one of the co-founders and a member of ECMTA, a guest professor at ECMTA masterclasses, a jury member of various competitions, a member of the International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg, honorary chairman of the Lithuanian-Austrian Society, and a board member of the Composer Vytautas Jakubėnas Society. Professor Petras Kunca’s artistic work has been recognized with the State Prize of the Republic of Lithuania, he has been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas. In 2016, he received the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art.
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