Altera Veritas

Altera Veritas describes its work as new music, chamber music and another truth in terms of the kokle, accordion and flute, as reflected in the chamber ensemble’s name, meaning “another truth” in Latin. Established in 1999, its current members are Anda Eglīte (kokle and bass kokle), Ieva Mežgaile (kokle and bass kokle), Artūrs Noviks (accordion) and Andis Klučnieks (flute). Accordion players Aldis Jurisons, Marko Ojala and Kaspars Gulbis have also performed with the ensemble.

Since the ensemble’s inception, composers from Latvia and abroad have dedicated more than ninety compositions to Altera Veritas. The ensemble has developed many exciting concert programmes in collaboration with composers Valdis Zilveris, Imants Mežaraups, Andris Dzenītis, Mārtiņš Viļums, Gundega Šmite, Peter Helms, Līga Celma-Kursiete, Agne Meistere, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Nic Gotham, Marina Gribinčika, Mirjam Tally (Estonia), Dimitris Maronidis (Greece), Indra Riše, Pēteris Plakidis, Vilnis Šmīdbergs, Jēkabs Nīmanis and many others. The ensemble also participated in the production of Ēriks Ešenvalds’ Joseph is a Fruit Bough at the Latvian National Opera.

In 2003, Altera Veritas received the Latvian Grand Music Award for its vivid and creative interpretations of contemporary Latvian music. In 2005, it won the Annual Award in Culture founded by the Diena newspaper.

Altera Veritas has performed throughout Latvia as well as in Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Portugal, Slovenia and France. It has represented Latvia at the European Union enlargement celebrations in Portugal and Baltic Days in Germany and performed at the Arena contemporary music festival, the Solaris international kokle festival and September Chamber Music Days in Latvia.

Altera Veritas has collaborated with the Art-i-Shock ensemble and the “Kamēr…” and “Latvija” choirs as well as Ensemble Aleph from France and the Slowind wind quintet from Slovenia. It won the award for best contemporary music performance at the Tina Orsi Anguissola Scotti international competition in Italy in 2005.

Altera Veritas recordings have been included in CDs released by the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, the Latvian Music Information Centre and Latvian Radio 3 “Klasika”. In 2005, the ensemble released the album Looking…Dreaming featuring music by Andris Dzenītis, Ēriks Ešenvalds and Valdis Zilveris.

In anticipation of the ensemble’s twenty-year anniversary concert in 2019, kokle players Anda Eglīte and Ieva Mežgaile (both of whom also named the ensemble) stated in an interview with Latvian Radio 3 “Klasika”: “Altera Veritas is an opportunity to meet and play with people to whom we do not need to explain or arrange anything. We feel, understand and trust each other, and that is a huge blessing. It is twenty years of the fulfilment of musical joy.”

LMIC 2020