Ceiruleits

The Ceiruleits folklore group was founded in the town of Līvāni in the autumn of 1990, and the leader of the group, teacher Anna Kārkle, continues to gather around her those who hold folk songs near and dear.
The group’s activities are based on exploring, learning about and popularising folk traditions. The members of the group also meet with traditional singers and storytellers to collect folklore materials and learn traditional manners of singing and making music.
The repertoire of Ceiruleits mainly consists of songs from their native region of Latgale (in eastern Latvia) that are related to seasonal festivals, family celebrations, mythology, various types of work, daily life and other themes as well as instrumental music, song-games and dances. From time to time, they also include folklore materials from other parts of Latvia.
Ceiruleits strives to adhere to the authentic manner of singing, but the group’s instrumental arrangements of songs often reflect the creativity that the members bring to folklore materials. The thematic scope of their performances is very broad and varied, and the group enjoys involving the audience in its performances.
Traditional folk music instruments are a major focus for Ceiruleits. Group members play the kokle, wooden flute, bagpipes, button accordion, ģīga (monochord), bells and newer instruments such as the violin, piano accordion, zither and various rhythm instruments. When performing, the musicians and singers wear ethnographic costumes from their local region.
With its enthusiastic work in nurturing, preserving and passing on folk traditions, Ceiruleits is an integral part of cultural life in its local region as well as at the “Pulkā eimu, pulkā teku”, Baltica and Sudmaliņas folklore festivals and other events in Latvia. Ceiruleits has also performed abroad in Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Estonia, Germany, Finland, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Sweden, Thailand, the United States and elsewhere.
Ceiruleits has released several albums, including the cassette Doncōt gōju ar meitom and the CDs Apleik kolnu saule tak, Īsalaižu dzīsmeitēs and Skaņu balseņu palaidu. Songs recorded by the group can also be heard on the CD Rāmi un ne and the Sviests series of CDs. Likewise, the group has recorded several broadcasts for the Klēts programme on Latvian Television.
Ceiruleits is a winner of the annual Grand Folklore Award. Director Anna Kārkle has also received the Dižā balva, the state’s highest award in folklore. The name of the group comes from a story about the Līvāni coat of arms, as told by older members of the community. According to them, it depicts a small lark flying over the river, its head held high, greeting the sun. It was thus decided to name the group Ceiruleits, after the Latgalian name for ‘lark’, and dedicate its songs to the sun.