Harpsichordist Ieva Saliete
Harpsichordist Ieva Saliete is the most visible player of this instrument in Latvia and Europe.
Her repertoire includes baroque and contemporary music – the interplay of both these styles of music was heard last year at the “Arena” festival, where together with musicians Ilzi Gruduli and Ieva Nīmani, a program of premieres was played, as well as at the concert “Lielajā dzintarā”, where Saliete performed with the world-famous recorder player Eric Bosgraf.
In 2023, compositions by two composers were premiered in Ieva Saliete’s play. One of them is Jānis Petraškevics’s newly created composition “Neparaleles” for accordion and harpsichord, an unprecedented combination of instruments in Latvia. At the end of the year – a concerto for harpsichord and orchestra written by Andras Dzenīš.
The collaboration of the harpsichordist with the Swedish key violin (nickel harp) virtuoso Marko Ambrozini was also special, which resulted in the Renaissance and Baroque spiritual chants on July 12, in the program of the Early Music Festival. In it, together with the Latvian Radio Choir and conductor Kaspars Putniņa, the compositions of the great masters of the Baroque era – Dietrich Buxtehude, Heinrich Ignac von Bieber and William Byrd – were played.
Saxophonist Aigars Raumanis
Saxophonist Aigars Raumanis’ main interest, according to himself, is new music and premieres.
During the past year, Raumanis has participated in fourteen premiere performances, among which the premiere of Uģ Prauliņš’s Overture at the “Saxophonia” festival together with the Riga Saxophone Quartet, as well as the world’s first concert for saxophone, organ and orchestra written by Renāte Stivriņa in the Riga Cathedral with organist Aigaras Reina, soloist Viktorija Majori, Vidzeme Chamber Orchestra and conductor Andri Veismani.
Last year, Aigars Raumanis also experienced the premiere of his composition “Mandele” at the four-year anniversary of the “Latvija” concert hall, which is based on Veltas Sniķere’s poem. Rauman’s love for poetry has also manifested itself in collaboration with poets Ilmārs Šlāpins, Inga Pizānis and Aivaras Eipuras, creating special music and poetry programs with each of them.
Aigars Raumanis emphasizes that he is extremely inspired by the opportunity to work with the works of living composers, thus gaining the opportunity to communicate with the composer and be more present in the creation of compositions. For the saxophonist, the first performance of Platon Buravitska’s “Míloša sirdas dardi” in Sigulda was special, which was later also staged with percussionist Reina Tomin.
Latvian Radio big band
In 2023, the Latvian Radio big band had several important collaborations with outstanding foreign musicians. At the “Saxophonia” festival, the big band played with the distinguished American musicians Jason Lindner (keyboards, arrangement) and Donny McCaslin (saxophone), as well as Brazilian musicians Ademir Junior (saxophone) and Thiago Loey (percussion).
A special event last year was the Stars Festival in Liepāja, in the first part of which the premiere of big band leader Kārlis Vanag’s composition “Trio Colossus” was played, which is a tribute to one of the giants of saxophone music, Sonny Rollins, while in the second part there was a musical meeting with the singer Ola Onabuli, who lives in England.
At the end of the year, an American jazz evening took place in the Spīķeru concert hall, an idea cherished for a long time, the musical concept of which was based on the focus on the big band as a unit – its composition and instrumentation. Young Latvian performers and composers Miķelis Dzenuška, Ēriks Miezis, Edgars Cīrulis and Kristīne Cīrule also took part in the concert.
The Grand Music Award ceremony will take place on March 12 at the Latvian National Opera. The event can be followed live from 19.00 on the portal LSM.lv and Latvijas Radio 3 “Klasika”, while from 21.10 the broadcast will be shown on LTV1
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2024-03-03 18:11:22
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