In 1949, she was arrested in Vilnius and deported to Siberia, Irkutsk Oblast, where she was forced to work in brick factory.
After some time she could finish her education and started working as a musical teacher in Irkutsk school.
Narbutienė organized the musical program of the Thomas Mann Festival in Nida from its inception in 1995 until 2007.
The programs combined concerts, readings, exhibitions, theatre performances, and film screenings.
She also contributed to the inclusion of song and dance celebrations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in UNESCO's Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.