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Pianist has been a professor of the Piano Department at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA) since and the chair of the LMTA Doctoral Committee since 2013, and vice rector for Studies at the LMTA since 2021. She gained her degree at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in 1986, where later she completed her postgraduate studies and acquired the qualifications of a soloist, an accompanist, a chamber ensemble musician, and a teacher. Rūta Rikterė became a laureate at the International M. K. Čiurlionis Piano Competition in 1982, International Valentino Bucchi Piano Duo Competition in Rome in 1991, and was awarded a prestigious Golden Disc by Lithuanian Musicians' Society in 2001. In 1997, she became a laureate of Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts.
For over 30 years, Rūta Rikterė together with pianist Zbignevas Ibelhauptas has been fostering the genre of piano duo. She has taken part in various musical events in Lithuania (Vilnius Festival, Pažaislis Music Festival, the Thomas Mann Festival, the Gaida Contemporary Music Festival), and abroad, in such international festivals as Warszawska Jesień in Poland, Musikhost in Denmark, Ljubljana Summer Festival in Slovenia, Usedomer Musikfestival in Germany, Music Niagara in Canada.
As a member of the piano duo, Rūta Rikterė has given concerts with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and major Lithuanian orchestras, collaborating with such conductors as Arturo Tamayo, David Geringas, Olivier Grangean, José Serebrier, Pavel Berman, Juozas Domarkas, Saulius Sondeckis, among the others. The duo of Rūta Rikterė and Zbignevas Ibelhauptas has given recitals on the stages of music halls in Japan, USA, Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, Slovenia, Ireland, Latvia, Ukraine and elsewhere. The concerts by the duo have been broadcasted on the Lithuanian and European radio stations and on the Lithuanian National Television. The duo has also released several CDs.
Rūta Rikterė has developed an impressive concert repertoire that predominantly comprises compositions for two pianos, ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach pieces to contemporary music. She devotes herself to the contemporary music by Lithuanian composers, promotes the Lithuanian music history, edits the scores, and is the initiator and first performer of opuses by many Lithuanian composers. Rūta Rikterė runs masterclasses, both in Lithuania and abroad, and can often be seen among organisers, members of jury committees at various international and national competitions. She has been a coordinator and partner in numerous projects subsidised by the Culture Support Fund (Lithuania) and Vilnius City Municipality.
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