Māris Sirmais, the artistic director of the Latvija choir, says of the concert programme: “It is no exaggeration to say that we will bring to New York a parade of true choral music masterpieces. We shaped our programme around the most outstanding and unique pieces by choral music composers in the Baltic region. Of course, other European composers from the 17th to the 21st centuries will be presented as well.”
The most notable examples of the first concert programme include two Estonian composers who have gained world-wide fame, Arvo Pärt and Veljo Tormis, as well as Latvians Ēriks Ešenvalds, Pēteris Vasks and Arturs Maskats. Other European regions will be represented with works by Alessandro Scarlatti, Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn, Sven-David Sandström and others. The programme also includes particularly refined compositions which can be performed only by the most distinguished ensembles. Olivier Messiaen’s Louange à l'éternité de Jésus, for example, will be sung by 27 voices.
“As we are going to New York, we thought also about a present for the American audience. This will be one of the most famous pieces of American choral music, Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine, whose author – a multiple Grammy Award winner, Eric Whitacre – is very popular in America,” says Māris Sirmais.
On 11 April, the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) will continue its 10th anniversary celebratory season when the choir, which comes from Riga – the birthplace of BAC Artistic Director Mikhail Baryshnikov – gives a performance in the Jerome Robbins Theater. The programme will include music by Arvo Pärt, Veljo Tormis and Ēriks Ešenvalds, the Grammy nominee Uģis Prauliņš, and US premieres of works by Latvian composers Jēkabs Jančevskis, Gundega Šmite, and Raimonds Tiguls. The concert will also feature compositions by the Lithuanians Vytautas Miškinis and Vaclovas Augustinas.
State Choir Latvija. Photo: Ansis Starks
The choir's debut in the USA was at the Lincoln Center in 2010 during the White Light Festival in a joint project with the Icelandic band, Sigur Rós. The New York Times described the choir’s performance in several reviews as “exquisite, beautiful, and brilliant”.
The State Choir Latvija is a brilliant, highly professional and internationally recognised ensemble whose musical accomplishments have delighted listeners in the most prestigious concert halls around the world. The choir is led by the winner of various international and local awards, conductor Māris Sirmais, under whose leadership it has performed together with world-famous orchestras, musicians and conductors.
The concert forms part of the public diplomacy and cultural programme of the Latvian Presidency of the EU Council which has contemporaneity, uniqueness and excellence as its core values.
