Quite early on in his creative career, Marius Baranauskas managed to develop individual recipes for creating his unique kind of music, achieving a distinctive sound that can be unmistakably attributed to him. His musical tastes formed under the influence of sonorism and spectralism. His aesthetic and technological inclinations are often expressed through the sophisticated use of timbre and intricate articulation, allowing him to craft enchantingly mystical soundscapes. It is quite often that the composer derives ideas from other domains of art and science, such as painting, literature and astronomy.
He studied composition from 1996 to 2002 under the guidance of Prof. Rimantas Janeliauskas at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. He continued his post-graduate studies at the same academy from 2003 to 2005. Additionally, in 2004-2005, he studied composition at the Lyon Conservatoire (CNSMD de Lyon).
His music has been commissioned by major festivals worldwide and performed by prestigious ensembles and orchestras, including Sinfonietta Leipzig, ensemble Les temps modernes, Ensemble Melos Ethos, the Latvian Radio Choir, ensemble Neue Musik Berlin, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, the Slovenian Radio and Television Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and a great number of smaller ensembles and soloists.
He has gained increased recognition particularly after receiving the 3rd Prize for his symphonic composition Talking at the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award in Japan in 2004. His electroacoustic piece NUNC was recognised as the best Lithuanian electro-acoustic composition of the year 2003. Additionally, The Molten Thought (for symphony orchestra) was awarded the best Lithuanian orchestral piece in 2006, and Alrediph (for tam tam and symphony orchestra) was similarly honoured in 2020. He was also awarded as the best Lithuanian theatre composer of the year 2006.
He currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Orchestration and Composition at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. He is a coordinator of the annual Principles of Music Composing international music theory conference and an assistant editor of the annual scientific peer-reviewed journal by the same name. Baranauskas is also the author of several scientific articles.