On the birthday of the outstanding chief conductor and teacher Jānis Dūmiņš on March 30, at 19.00 A concert dedicated to his 100th anniversary will be performed at the Riga Dome Cathedral.
At the initiative of the professor’s daughter Ilze Dūmiņa – Kroja and the Dūmiņa Foundation, the State Academic Choir “Latvija” led by J. Dūmiņš, this time its chief conductor and artistic director Māris Sirmas, and also the conductor of Professor J. Dūmiņš, former director of the Latvian National Opera, were invited to the concert. Under the leadership of Weisman. The idea of the anniversary concert will allow you to feel the size of the professor’s creative personality, to remember both the thoroughness of his vocal symphonic art and the authenticity of the delicate moods of Latvian choral classics. As a sensitive teacher, J. Dūmiņš has also strengthened the musical path of violinist, professor Juris Švolkovskis and singer Ieva Parša. In turn, the Riga Dome Girls’ Choir “Tiara” and conductor Aira Birziņa will play the program of the IV School Youth Song and Dance Festival for the composition of Mozart’s children’s choir “Preparing for the Concert” with soloist Luisa Anna Razdovska and concertmaster Veronika Rinkulis. Smoke care. At the Riga Dome organ Aigars Reinis.
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Jānis Dūmiņš was an outstanding and unique personality in the history of Latvian choral music – an innovator, seeker and implementer of new ideas, founder and manager of large projects. He has been the honorary chief conductor at 13 General Song Festivals, the Riga 800 Festival, 7 school youth festivals and 6 student song festivals, thus becoming the conductor with the (longest) longest experience as a chief conductor.
The chief conductor, without whom no Song Festival was conceivable for more than half a century; an authoritative teacher who has prepared more than 100 of his students in Latvia and Georgia for the musician’s mission; an interpreter with a fascinating artistic fervor, as well as an outstanding music professional, a sovereign translator of monumental vocal symphonic scores and a brave, passionate walker of new paths, respected and honored both in Latvia and elsewhere in the world – such was Jānis Dūmiņš.
Jānis Dūmiņš’s bright talent is rooted in the musical traditions of the musically gifted family and Riga of the 20s and 30s, as well as Baldone, which have aroused interest in both choir and violin art. If not for the illness of the left hand, which made J.Dūmiņš to stop studying the violin, Latvia would have been proud of an excellent violinist. However, the severity of the fate is most fortunate when the 25-year-old zealous conductor for the first time really sensed the mission of the chief conductor, carefully preparing the choirs entrusted to him for the Song Festival in Ogre district. J. Dūmiņš was the first of the outstanding conductors of the post-war period to perform in front of the united choir at the newly opened Mežaparks Grand Stage in 1955. Over the next 53 years, the old master has conducted the Latvian Grand Choir 14 times, which is the largest contribution of one conductor in the history of the Song Festival.
J.Dūmiņš has devoted a lot of efforts to the development of children’s choirs and their repertoire. Even today, there will be many people in the choir who will be happy to play music during the children’s days, conducted by J. Dūmiņš, either during one of the seven School Youth Song and Dance Festivals, or during a visit to Maestro at school. But maybe the meeting took place later, during the study years, because J.Dūmiņš was also the chief conductor and artistic director of six student song festivals Gaudeamus.
While still a final year student at the Conservatory of the Faculty of Choral Conducting, J. Dūmiņš became the choirmaster of the State Choir, later the chief conductor and artistic director (1949-1960). Applying the knowledge and skills acquired in the postgraduate studies of the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Conservatory (1951-1954) in working with a professional choir, J. Dūmiņš achieves a brilliant and rapid artistic growth of the State Choir. With a family of professional singers, J. Dūmiņš not only masterpieces and new works of Latvian music literature, but is the first in the world-famous unit to cultivate the traditions of playing vocal and instrumental forms. Introduces the principle: to learn and sing the best samples of national vocal scores in the original language. Thus, in 1956, the legendary performance of JS Bach’s “Matthew’s Passion” took place in the university hall. It is also becoming a sign of humanism and spiritual freedom, both in Riga and in 50 other atheist Soviet cities, where listeners converge as pilgrims to hear this masterpiece of world sacred music for the first time.
Ten years later, with the mixed choir of the Latvian Academy of Sciences “Palace of Light” (1960-1966), J. Dūmiņš premiered JS Bach’s “Passion of John” in the Riga Dome, at the same time proving the high level of development of Latvian amateur choir art.
The fascination of J.Dūmiņš’s performing arts also attracted many specialists from other countries, including Georgians, who asked the outstanding Latvian conductor to help them develop their professional choir culture for several working seasons. The enthusiastic work brought dazzling creative success to the experienced Latvian choral conductor, and in addition to the Latvian badges of honor, the title of Georgian meritorious artist appeared.
However, the story of maestro Jānis Dūmiņš would not be complete without 1962 and “Rīga”. Later, the well-known Folk Choir, which was regularly among the best Latvian choirs, as well as gained international attention, was founded to participate in the youth and student festival in Helsinki. “Rīga”, which J.Dūmiņš united with his characteristic phenomenal abilities in six weeks as the most enormous choir of the festival, was a new type, relatively small, but musically strong and dynamic mixed choir with a typically bright but full-sounding youth choir sound. There was another reason for the enthusiasm of the talented young people: for the first time in the post-war years, the “iron curtain” opened for Latvian choir art and it went out into the world! Although students of the Riga Medical Institute joined Riga in the following years and sometimes the whole choir did not fit on the podium (the song was already considered to limit the number of singers!), Its sound always remained youthful, typically “smoky”, convincingly approaching the achievements of amateur choral singing. Maestro conducted the choir “Rīga” (later “Senrīga”) until 1985.
J.Dūmiņš was awarded the State Prize (1958) and the title of Folk Performer (1977); is an officer of the Order of the Three Stars (1996) and an honorary member of the Council of the Latvian Academy of Sciences (1997); Member of Theodor Reiter Foundation and Riga Latvian Society.
Supported by SCCF
Tickets at wwwbilesuparadize.lv and at the Riga Dome box office
Entrance with Covid19 certificate and face masks.
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