Conductor Māris Sirmais

The concert by the Latvian National Choir (also known as State Choir Latvija) focuses on music created by Baltic composers – Gundega Šmite, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Jēkabs Jančevskis, Uģis Prauliņš, Raimonds Tiguls, Vytautas Miškinis, Vaclovas Augustinas, Arvo Pärt and Veljo Tormis – as well as the American composer Eric Whitacre. The programme also includes two compositions from the choir's new album Dzintara ceļš (Amber road) which features 12 songs with music written by Latvian composers and lyrics by renowned European poets. This project was part of the Riga 2014 European Capital of Culture programme.

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 Latvian National Choir's perfect, warm, instrumentally nuanced vocal culture is a thing of wonder. It is the largest professional choir in the Baltics. Since 1997, its artistic leader and chief conductor has been Māris Sirmais. In 2017 the choir will celebrate its seventy-fifth anniversary.

Tickets available on the website of the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC).