Vykintas Baltakas studied composition at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater and in Karlsruhe, Germany. He studied composition with Wolfgang Rihm, conducting with Andreas Weiss and performance of contemporary music with Peter Eötvös. He subsequently studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur and at IRCAM in Paris.
Institutions that have commissioned works by Baltakas include the WDR Simphony Orchestra, the Munich Biennale, the Wiener Festwochen/Klangforum Wien, the Ensemble Modern and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Baltakas has conducted orchestras such as the RSO and DSO Berlin, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the WDR Symphony Orchestra as well as ensembles including Klangforum Wien and the Ensemble Modern. In 2009 he founded the LENsemble Vilnius. Baltakas’ works have been awarded with the Claudio Abbado Prize and the Siemens Advancement Award prize. Recordings of his compositions were made by the the Ensemble Modern, Musikfabrik, produced by such labels as Kairos, Neos, Wergo, Fuga Libera, Winter & Winter.
From 2015 Vykintas Baltakas was a guest Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and begun teaching his composition class at the Conservatory in Maastricht. He currently also holds a professorship for performance of contemporary music at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre Vilnius.