Māris Ošlejs has served as General Manager of the State Choir LATVIJA since 1997. He is currently also a member of the Board. Prior to becoming General Manager, he worked for three years as a choral artist in the State Choir LATVIJA. In 1998, he founded the International Sacred Music Festival, of which he has been the General Manager ever since.
Under his administrative leadership, the State Choir LATVIJA has collaborated with world-class orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic. During his time as General Manager, the State Choir LATVIJA has established fruitful relationships with conductors including Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Andris Nelsons, Simone Young, and Paavo Järvi. He has also helped to reach agreements with record companies including Warner Brothers, Ondine, and Harmonia Mundi. Ošlejs’ leadership has also resulted in numerous Latvian Great Music Awards for the State Choir LATVIJA.
Māris Ošlejs graduated from the Emīls Dārziņš Music School in 1982. He later graduated from the Faculty of Music Pedagogy of Daugavpils Pedagogical University, where he specialised in music pedagogy and choral conducting.
In addition to his work as General Manager of the State Choir LATVIJA, Māris Ošlejs has provided leadership to several important cultural events in Latvian music history. These have included the Sacred Music Concerts of the XXIII and XXIV Nationwide Latvian Song and Dance Festivals, as well as the Scared Music Concert of the World Choir Games in 2014.
Māris Ošlejs’ extensive contributions to music and culture have resulted in awards from the governments of Latvia, Estonia, and Poland.
