Leopoldas Digrys

Leopoldas Mykolas Digrys was a Soviet and Lithuanian organist, pianist, and teacher. He was born in Kaunas on September 8, 1934, and died in Vilnius on January 19, 2025. He was named People's Artist of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1983, received the State Prize of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1973, and was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts in 2015.

The brother of violinist Eduardas Digrys, he studied at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory from 1952 to 1957, where he trained in piano with Grigory Ginzburg and in organ with Alexander Gedike. In 1960 he completed postgraduate study in piano under Ginzburg, and in 1961 he completed postgraduate study in organ under Leonid Roizman.

From 1960 to 2001 Digrys taught at the Lithuanian Conservatory, known from 1992 as the Lithuanian Academy of Music, and became a professor in 1983. In 1969 and 1976 he undertook further training at the Academy of Musical Arts in Prague with J. Reinberger. He also served on the juries of international organ competitions in Lithuania and abroad.

As a performer, Digrys gave more than two thousand concerts of organ music, including works by classical and contemporary composers. He toured in Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Israel, and took part in international festivals in Venice, Salzburg, Ravenna, Göttingen, Bremen, Leipzig, Tel Aviv, and other cities.

He played an important role in the development of organ performance and education in Lithuania. He initiated the restoration of organist training at the conservatory from 1962 and helped launch organ music festivals in Vilnius from 1968. At his suggestion, the M. K. Čiurlionis Piano Competition was expanded in 1968 into a competition for both pianists and organists.

By his initiative, new organs were installed at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Ladislaus in Vilnius, St. Casimir's Church, the Church of the Holy Cross in Vilnius, and the Lithuanian Academy of Music. His students included Irena Budryte-Kummer, Giedre Luksaite-Mrazkova, Virginija Survilaite, Balys Vaitkus, and Bernardas Vasiliauskas. He was also the author of the book How to Play the Organ (1998).