23rd International Sacred Music Festival to Conclude This Week
The 23rd International Sacred Music Festival will conclude this week with two concerts. The State Choir LATVIJA and its artistic director Māris Sirmais will continue one of the festival’s longest traditions on September 2nd at St. Peter’s Church in Riga: a concert of new works from Latvian composers. In the closing concert of the festival, Johannes Brahms’ monumental German Requiem will be performed on September 5th at Riga Cathedral under the direction of conductor Ainārs Rubiķis.
One of the defining legacies of the International Sacred Music Festival is the creation of original music. This year, four composers have written new works for the State Choir LATVIJA; the concert will feature the premieres of Artis Gāga’s Top lūgts for mixed choir and saxophone, Uldis Marhilēvičs’ miniatures Agios o Theos and Kyrie, Renāte Stivriņa’s cycle Seven Moments at the Cross, and Alvils Altmanis’ Missa Brevis. The State Choir LATVIJA will be joined by soloists Artis Gāga (saxophone), Andis Klučnieks (flute), Romāns Vendiņš (piano), Kristers Kupčs (guitar), Jānis Stafeckis (double bass) and Artis Orubs (percussion). Māris Sirmais, the festival’s artistic director, will lead the performance. The concert will reflect Sirmais’ desire to always find the best possible acoustics in every performance space, as the choir will perform from an unusual location in the church: standing at the entrance facing the altar.
The closing concert of the festival will take place on September 5th at 19:00 in the Riga Cathedral. Johannes Brahms’ German Requiem will be performed by the State Choir LATVIJA, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, and soloists Elīna Šimkus and Rihards Millers. Conductor Ainārs Rubiķis has stepped in on short notice to lead the performance. In order to reach the largest possible audience, the festival organizers will provide a live video broadcast of the concert on the State Choir LATVIJA’s website, www.koris.lv, in the “News” section.
Tickets for the closing concerts of the 23rd International Sacred Music Festival are available at “Biļešu paradīze” box offices and on the internet at www.bilesuparadize.lv.
More information can be found at www.sgmf.lv, as well as on the social media platforms of the State Choir LATVIJA.
