The yearly festival “Latvian New Music Days 2022. Pulse”, organised by the Latvian Composers’ Union, will take place from April 21 to 30 at concert spaces in Riga and at the “Cēsis” Concert Hall.
The scope of the festival is premieres of recent and long nurtured works, as well as compositions from the archives which have not been performed in decades. New or current music Latvian music is music that we ourselves – composers and performers – are honoring at this very moment – we study and perform it in concerts and on recordings.
The principal theme of the festival this year is the PULSE as a constant sign of life in culture. The pulse of the music of Latvian composers can be steady, thrilling, sleepy, tense, and, in every way, it is a confirmation of life – inheritable and preservable.
The festival begins on April 21 with a discussion to inspire reflection – “Censorship and self-censorship in Latvian music from the years of Soviet occupation until today.” The event will take place at the Writing and Music Museum, and the discussion will be led by composer, music journalist and censorship researcher Edgars Raginskis.
The festival program includes five concerts, and they will take place from April 22 to April 30.
The five concerts will include premieres of works by Leons Amoliņš, Mārīte Dombrovska, Andris Dzenītis, Oskars Herliņš, Marina Gribinčika, Sabīne Ķezbere, Arturs Maskats, Raivis Misjuns, Andrejs Selickis, Renāte Stivriņa and Pēteris Vasks.
Along with the new works, there will be a unique opportunity to listen to rarely performed works by Santa Bušs, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Jēkabs Jančevskis, Aldonis Kalniņš, Juris Karlsons, Rolands Kronlaks, Juris Kulakovs, Evija Skuķe, Gundage Šmite, Vilnis Šmīdbergs, Jānis Porietis, Ruta Paidere, Jānis Petraškevičs, Pēteris Plakidis, Valts Pūce and Andris Vecumnieks.
Festival performers include Reinis Zariņš (solo concert in Cēsis on April 22), singer Ieva Parša, cellist Ēriks Kiršfelds, pianists Herta Hansena and Aldis Liepiņš (a concert and live broadcast from Latvian Radio Studio 1 on April 25), percussionist Guntars Freibergs, violist Ivars Brīnums and Andris Dzenītis playing electronic instruments (April 28 at the Riga Art Space), Sinfonietta Rīga wind quintet (concert at the Riga Reform Church on April 27) and the Latvian Academy of Culture Mixed Choir Sōla and conductors Kaspars Ādamsons, Laura Štoma and Artūrs Oskars Mitrevics (concert in the Riga Latvian Society Gold Hall on April 30).
Additional information HERE