 Martynas Levickis, at 20 years of age has suddenly come to prominence in his own country, Lithuania, the largest of the Baltic States, and in the international accordion world, through taking part in and winning competitions in the USA and in 2010 at the Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships organised by the Confederation Internationale des Accordeonistes (CIA) held in Croatia.
Martynas is clearly a young man with a high musical talent. Most important for his future and that of his chosen instrument, is his talent to convey to an audience the joy of music, something he did brilliantly to convince the judges and the TV audience in Lithuania to vote for him to win the competition ‘Lithuania’s Got Talent.’
How has this success come about?
Martynas Levickis was born in June 1990 in the little town of Taurage, very close to the border of Lithuania and Russia, and near to Kaliningrad. Martynas was brought up there by his mother who worked as a cook in a restaurant and by his aunt and uncle.
‘When I was a child of three, I am told, I showed an interest in playing the piano after seeing performers on television. I banged on the table with my hands and fingers to imitate the pianists I had seen. My family could not afford a piano but my uncle bought me a small 12 bass accordion and I was soon able to get tunes out of it, which further impressed my family.
At the age of eight my family moved to the town of Siauliai, a larger town, to allow me to attend a music school. This was a school which provided a good general education and where all children concentrated on music. We had to play two instruments and my choice was the piano and the accordion. I loved my accordion more than the piano and insisted that my family provide me with a full size accordion straight away. It was too big for me but of course, I grew into it.
I was taught in the music school in Siauliai by Maryte Markeviciene. She received her training from Kiev Conservatoire and was an excellent teacher. I studied with her for ten years from the age of 8 to 18 years. I had to continue with my piano lessons and was also given a grounding in musical theory, things that I did not particularly enjoy as a child and teenager, but am now very grateful for.
I also enjoyed reading and learnt English and Russian at school, but not very well. When I came to London to study, I had to adapt a lot and work hard to improve my English.’
Why did Martynas choose to come to London and the Royal Academy of Music when he left school?
‘I had heard about the Royal Academy from a friend but when I looked on the internet for accordion courses in conservatoires, there are a number, particularly in the East, but I decided to choose this one. I wanted to be different.
My teachers and advisors were doubtful about my coming to the West but I wanted to do something different to other students. I do not regret the decision. I believe that the ideas I am getting in London and the attitudes to the arts is different, which has been of great benefit to me.
Owen Murray’s strategy of integrating the accordion into Academy life, particularly with chamber music playing is one of the best ways forward for the accordion’.
You play a piano accordion with a B system free bass left hand. How did this come about?
‘In Lithuania there are very few people who play a button accordion in the right hand. Before I came to London I was unaware of the difference between a ‘B’ and ‘C’ system. In Lithuania, nobody uses anything but the Russian B system’.
Martynas came to London in 2008 and is now in his third year of the undergraduate course.
‘The demands have been heavy. I have had to learn repertoire by Bach, Scarlatti, Berinsky, Angelis, Ganzer, Nordheim and others and to play these works in performance classes and concerts as well as do other academic work. In addition, I work at the weekends teaching music to the children of Lithuanian ex-patriots here in London.
Since the middle of 2010, I have been twice to the United States, first to take part in events organised by the American Accordionists Association and then to take part in the Galla-Rini competition organised by the Accordion Teachers Guild. I came second in this competition which took place over three rounds and was tough.
In October 2010, I won the CIA Coupe Mondiale Piano Accordion category in Croatia which had an easier program being a single round competition. My repertoire in these events has been music that I have studied here with Professor Owen Murray.
In January 2011, I took part in and won, the TV show ‘Lithuania’s Got Talent’ which has a system where the winner is selected by the audience watching on TV. The competition is against pop singers, pop bands, pianists, gymnasts and others. To play to this audience, I had to mix my programme – a classical item mixed with items by John Lennon and/or Piazzolla.
The difficulty I had with this contest, was that after each round, I had to return to London to keep up my course studies. My accordion and I spent a lot of time (and money) in the air, but I am very grateful as a student for the prize money which I earned from these events.'
As a consequence of widespread exposure on TV in Lithuania, Martynas has attained a celebrity status in his own country which has given rise to much correspondence even with distant long lost relatives. What of the future?
‘Firstly, I want to complete my course here at the Academy. This will extend my repertoire and increase my experience of classical music and will, I hope enable a career as a concert performer.
I would like to do something to carry the accordion forward. I will search for something different, to use the ideas I have learnt from The Academy and particularly from my teacher here. I do not know exactly what this will be but first I have ahead, a period of concentrated work’.
Interview - February 3rd 2011 at the Royal Academy of Music, Marylebone Road, London.
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