Kalnejas

Kalnejas is a Latvian acoustic trio that has been playing together since 2017. The band’s musical  language is based on folksong imagery and the melodiousness of the Latvian language and is in terwoven with minimalism, introspection and acoustic intimacy. Kalnejas create a soundscape in  which silence is as important as sound. 

Marija Valmiera’s singing balances between an intimate fragility and the structured rhythms  of language. She not only writes the lyrics for the group’s songs but also creates a narrative space  in which motifs from folk songs merge with personal experience. Toms Valmiers, a multi-instru mentalist with a background in classical and jazz music who also works in the field of contempo rary music and improvisation, plays the double bass and guitar and creates most of the band’s  arrangements. His approach to music is based on simplicity and harmonious subtlety. Spāre Vīto la is a violinist with a background in classical music and folklore whose melodic performance  weaves subtle, ascetic lines into the group’s songs. 

Kalnejas’s debut recording, Lejas I (2020), features original songs as well as folk-inspired  compositions in which serene expression alternates with rich, saturated lyrics. Following in 2024  and 2025, Lejas II and Lejas III complete the trilogy, with each recording containing four compositions. 

Kalnejas perform at concert venues, literary events and intimate cultural spaces, where the  group’s subtle sound can exist in a space beyond the noise of everyday life. The band’s name al ludes to an imaginary place where mountains grow and where, upon entering, people become a  little quieter and calmer. 

Marija Valmiera – voice 

Toms Valmiers – double bass, guitar 

Spāre Vītola – violin

Photo: Niklāvs Kotovičs