State Choir LATVIJA to Debut Four Seasons Cycle of Solo Concerts on First Day of Spring

On March 20th, the State Choir LATVIJA and its Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Māris Sirmais will invite audiences to celebrate the beginning of spring. The concert, Spring Love Songs, will launch Four Seasons, the choir’s cycle of solo concerts which will be performed throughout the year at St. Peter’s Church in Riga. The spring concert will combine organically with an exhibition of paintings by winners of the Jāzeps Pīgoznis Prize for Latvian Landscape Painting, which will be unveiled the day before the performance. In honour of the event, artist Viktors Keino will create video projections inspired by the prize-winning landscape paintings.

Artistic Director Māris Sirmais has carefully selected pieces for the programme which will highlight the choir’s masterful sound. The programme will include romantic works of Richard Strauss, Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström’s cycle of works dedicated to love, two songs from Hungarian composer György Ligeti, as well as Credo by Matej Kastelic, a composer rarely performed in Latvia.

The State Choir LATVIJA’s sound will be joined during the concert by soprano Viktorija Pakalniece, mezzo-soprano Sniedze Kaņepe, tenor Mārtiņš Zvīgulis and baritone Kalvis Kalniņš.

Conductor Māris Sirmais is always interested in acoustic experiments, searching for the best sound at any concert venue. This concert will be no exception, as the choir will sing from an unusual location within the church.

The choir’s Executive Director, Māris Ošlejs, explained the need to create a new concert cycle. “The State Choir LATVIJA is in demand for performances in concert halls abroad, as well as at home in Latvia and Riga. However, the choir’s total self-expression is typically only achieved during our annual International Sacred Music Festival, which will take place this year for the 23rd time. To enable us to create concert programmes throughout the entire year, we have created a Four Seasons concert cycle, which we hope will become an integral part of the choir’s annual concert schedule. We are pleased to be working with our long-time partners at St. Peter’s Church in Riga to bring this idea to fruition.”

Tickets to the concert can be purchased from Biļešu paradīze box offices throughout Latvia, as well as online: here.