Clarinetist Šarūnas Jankauskas enjoys a rewarding performance and teaching career. Most of his professional activities take place at James Madison University in Virginia, where he guides an enthusiastic group of aspiring young musicians, teachers and entrepreneurs. Jankauskas joined the faculty in 2016 and is dedicated to exploring new ways of addressing playing techniques, expanding teaching literature and maintaining a highly positive learning environment.
His performance engagements have taken him through Europe, Canada and various regions of the United States. Jankauskas appeared as a concerto soloist with Boulder Chamber Orchestra, Round Rock Symphony, numerous university-level ensembles and collaborated with accomplished artists, including St. Petersburg and Jasper String Quartets, pianists Domenico Codispoti and Johan Botes. He participated at International Conservatory Week Festival (St. Petersburg, Russia), Musicalis Daunia (Italy), SoundSpace at Blanton, Chamber Music at the Barn, KNOB Festival of New Music, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFests®, College Music Society’s National Conference and various composer/new music symposiums. He also has been a fellow in prestigious summer programs: Sarasota Music Festival, New Music Workshop of Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Round Top Festival-Institute and Texas Music Festival. His recent commissioning project focused on works for clarinet in various duo-partnership roles. After numerous premieres, it culminated in a digital and CD album Duos, released by Soundset Recordings in 2020. As a developing composer, Jankauskas has premiered a couple of his own works.
Dr. Jankauskas previously taught at Texas Lutheran and Wichita State Universities, in addition to serving as principal clarinetist of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. He studied at the Academy of Music and Theatre in his native Lithuania, and, after moving to the U.S., received degrees from Grand Valley State University, Rice University and The University of Texas at Austin.