Valdis Zariņš

Born in Emburga, Latvia into a family of musicians. He began playing the violin at the age of six, studying at the E. Darzins music school and gave his first public concert when only 15. From 1957-1964 he studied at the Latvian Academy of Music where he has been a professor since 1987. For 20 years after his postgraduate studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire he has been the principal violin of The Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and since 1995 V. Zarins has been concertmaster of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. First and foremost Zarins is a solo artist with a huge repertoire of chamber music and concerti from baroque to contemporary music. His favorite composers are Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Bartok but he has given the premiere performance of many Latvian works, including the violin concerti of Janis Ivanovs and Romualds Kalsons. Valdis Zarins often tours and plays at music festivals, he has made over 100 records and is particularly noted for his playing of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.