Osvaldas Balakauskas

Lithuanian composer Osvaldas Balakauskas (born 1937).
He trained at the Music Faculty of the Vilnius Pedagogical Institute (1957-1961) and later studied composition at the Kiev Conservatorie (1964-1969). From 1988 to 1992 he was a member of of the council of the 'Sajudis' (Lithuanian independence movement). Between 1992 and 1994 he was Lithuanian ambassador - the first after 50 years of foreign rule - to France, Spain and Portugal (residing in Paris). Head of the Composition Department of the Lithuanian Academy of Music. In 1996 Balakauskas was honoured with the Lithuanian National Prize, in 1998 with the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas (3rd level).