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Andris Dzenītis

(23.01.1978 )

Music is my home. My muse - between the heavens and the movement of my hand.

 

 

ANDRIS DZENĪTIS feels most at home with large-format compositions, both in terms of time and composition, in which he can take his time and fully enjoy the limitless possibilities of colour available with an orchestra and the many varied choral voicings, thereby surrendering to an unhurried flow of time and sequentially presented message. His musical language is at once contemporary and romantic, very expressive and yet reserved and contemplative.

Dzenītis' works are an essential part of Latvian concert life, but they have also gained wide international resonance and are regularly performed at significant festivals abroad, such as "Warsaw Autumn" (1997, 2013), "Gaida" (1998, 2002) in Vilnius, Berlin's "MaerzMusik" (2003), "Nyyd" 2003 in Tallinn, several "Arena" new music festivals in Riga, Bergen Music Festival 2005, "Klangspuren Schwaz" 2005, "Time of Music" in Viitasaari (2006), "ISCM World Music Days" in Hong Kong, Beijing  and Tartu (2007, 2018 and 2019) , "Estonian Music Days" 2011, "Tallinn Music Week" (2011), "Musica Viva| (2012), and many others. Dzenītis' works have been included in the repertoires of Latvia's most renowned ensembles – the Latvian Radio Choir, the State Choir Latvija, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, "Riga chamber players", "Sinfonietta Rīga", the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, "Rīga" Professional Symphonic Band, "Altera Veritas" and others – as well as those of leading ensembles and musicians abroad, including "Kroumata" Percussion Ensemble (Sweden), the Silesian String Quartet (Poland), "Paragon Ensemble" (Scotland), "Pierrot Lunaire" Ensemble Wien, "Caput" (Iceland), GAM (Russia), the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbruecken Kaiserlautern, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Belgium and the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra under Karel Mark Chichon, Boston symphony orchestra and "Gewandhaus" symphony orchestra under Andris Nelsons and "Ensemble Modern" with conductors Péter Eötvös, Anu Tali and Clemens Heil.

Dzenītis has studied composition with Pēteris Vasks and Pēteris Plakidis in Riga, with Kurt Schwertsik in Vienna and also with Osvaldas Balakauskas in Vilnius, where he earned his master's degree in 2003. He has continued his education in master classes led by, among others, Magnus Lindberg, Pär Lindgren and Bent Sørensen. Since 2002, he has organised the biennial International Workshop for Young Composers in Latvia, which draws students as well as experienced teachers from around the world. Education is an important aspect of Dzenītis' work, but he is also an active music writer and critic. Since 2013, Dzenītis' deep, rich voice is regularly heard on the Klasika programme on Latvian Radio 3. Dzenītis received the AKKA/LAA Copyright Infinity Award in 2003 and 2014, and in 2006 he placed first in the international P. Jurgenson Competition of Young Composers in Moscow. In 2017 he received national prize of cinematography "Lielais Kristaps" for music of Aik Karapetian's movie "Firstborn" and has nominated for the same prize previously.

He twice received Latvia's highest award in music – the Latvian Great Music Award – in 2006 for his vocal symphonic work "Fides. Spes. Caritas" and again in 2014 for his concerto for saxophone and orchestra "E(GO)". Other compositions by Dzenītis have regularly been nominated for the Latvian Great Music Award as well as the "Diena" Annual Culture Award.

Dzenītis is also working in the field of electronic improvised music, playing with his group "Woodpecker project" since year 2006.

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