Jone Kaliunaite was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. At the M.K. Ciurlionis Art and Music Gymnasium there, she specialised in the violin, later switching to the viola. After completing her A-levels, she studied at the Lithuanian Academy of Music under Prof. P. Radzevicius. Following the collapse of the USSR, she continued her studies in 1991 at the Lübeck University of Music under Prof. Barbara Westphal, graduating with distinction in 1998 with a concert diploma. She was also an external student at the Mozarteum in Salzburg under Prof. Thomas Riebl.
Jone Kaliunaite is a multiple prize-winner at national and international competitions (including the CIEM Geneva in 1996).
She was principal violist with the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Duisburg.
From 1999 to 2005, she was a lecturer in viola at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. From 2005 to 2026, Jone Kaliunaite held a professorship in viola at the Saar College of Music before accepting a post at the Karlsruhe University of Music in the summer semester of 2026.
From 2012 to 2016, she worked as a visiting professor at the Vilnius Academy of Music in Lithuania. In 2024, Jone Kaliunaite successfully completed her three-year training to become a ‘Rolfing Expert’. The fundamentals of manual therapy and fascial theory she has learnt enable her to conduct a thorough analysis of posture using instruments during one-to-one lessons and to recommend a good, sustainable playing posture to students using a personalised, practical technique, in order to
prevent chronic complaints.
She performs both as a soloist and in various chamber music ensembles.