The Prime Minister, Laimdota Straujuma, the Minister for Culture, Dace Melbārde, and the Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica will take part in the event.
The star of the concert will be the mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča who will perform some of the finest European music – from Hector Berlioz and Pyotr Tchaikovsky to the contemporary Latvian composers Andris Dzenītis and Ēriks Ešenvalds. The extensive programme will showcase the artiste’s powerful stage presence and outstanding vocal skills. Elīna Garanča will perform together with the National Orchestra of Belgium. The concert will be conducted by Karel Mark Chichon who was also the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra between 2008 and 2012.
Elīna Garanča was born into a musical family in Riga, Latvia, and studied at the Latvian Academy of Music. After winning several international competitions, she began her professional career as a resident artist with the Südthüringisches Staatstheater in Meiningen, and later with the Frankfurt Opera. Her first solo recording Aria Cantilena in 2007 received the prestigious ECHO Klassik award. In May 2013, she was honoured by the Wiener Staatsoper with the title of ‘Kammersängerin’. Since 2005 Elīna Garanča has been an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist.
The opening event of the Presidency is one of the most significant events of the Presidency’s cultural programme. To see the programme, click here https://eu2015.lv/latvia-en/cultural-programme
Tickets can be purchased at the BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts (Palais des Beaux-Arts) in Brussels.
