On November 10, the sixtieth anniversary of life is celebrated by the conductor and artistic director of the chamber orchestra “Sinfonietta Rīga” Normunds Šnē.
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According to Gints Ozoliņš, a representative of Sinfonietta Rīga, colleagues and friends from Latvia and abroad welcomed Normunds Šnē on the anniversary morning. Congratulations were sent to the conductor by the highest officials of Latvia, representatives of music institutions and the most loyal listeners. In accordance with the precautionary measures currently in force in the country and the ban on gatherings, the musicians of the chamber orchestra “Sinfonietta Rīga” greeted the partygoer remotely on Tuesday morning. Following the example of the Chancellery of the President and emphasizing the concerns about the sustainability of the global ecosystem, the orchestra’s artists, representatives of the administration and friends of the orchestra presented Normunds Šnē with the Errenpreiss bicycle “Gustavs”.
Normunds Šnē (1960) is one of those Latvian musicians who not only purposefully focused on the study of the historical performance of baroque and classicist music, but also persevered in creating new works and playing the latest music. This was already the case when he – one of Latvia’s most outstanding oboists – played in various chamber ensembles and performed as a soloist. The scores of the 20th and 21st centuries have been staged and performed with a true sense of mission by all the orchestras he created – once “Riga Chamber Musicians” (1987 – 2006) and the Riga Festival Orchestra (1999 – 2006), but now – “Sinfonietta Riga” (2006). Normunds Šnē was one of the founders of the contemporary music festival “Arena” (2003).
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Normunds Šnē has also been a guest conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra. He has staged and directed performances of the Latvian National Opera and Ballet.
Normund Schne says: “It seems that it is the conductor’s work that has allowed me to realize the importance of the balance between the rational and the emotional. You can jump as emotionally as you want, but the orchestra may not answer you. I have to help the orchestra to play. It seems to me that any performance is a message, only each listener has to decipher it for themselves. “
Normunds Šnē has premiered works by Pēteris Plakids, Pēteris Vasks, Maija Einfelde, Juris Carlson, Vilnius Šmīdbergs, Andris Dzenītis, Anitra Tumševica, Santa Bush, Linda Leimane, Santa Ratniece, Nick Gotham, Kristaps Peterson, Oskars Peterson
In 2019, he received the Baltic Assembly Prize in Art – for the concert dedicated to the centenary of the Baltic States, in which the Sinfonietta Riga and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra played together.
Schne has twice received the Latvian Grand Music Prize (1996, 2004); it has been awarded seven times to his ensembles – orchestras “Riga Chamber Musicians” (1994, 1998) and “Sinfonietta Rīga” (2007, 2008, 2015, 2018), as well as to the Riga Festival Orchestra (2001). Normunds Šnē is an officer of the Order of the Three Stars.
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Normunds Šnē has played with soloists Jean Gijen Keiras, Nelson Gerner, Pek Kuusisto, Sol Gabet, Vinet Sareik, Evelina Glennija, Inga Kalns, Peter Donahju, Isabella Faust, Martin Frest, Patrick Galu, Natal Gring, Tatiana Gering, Gidon Kremer, Christian Lindberg, Truls Merk, Crispian Styl Perkins, Terji Ripdal, Mstislav Rostropovich, Joe Zavinul and other outstanding musicians.
He has given concerts in Australia, Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden.
He started to study oboe at Jelgava Music High School, later he studied in the oboe playing class of Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music with prof. Vilņa Pelnēna, and in the conducting master class with Imants Rešnis. He supplemented his knowledge with Heinz Holliger, Tamara Fidler, Yuri Simonov, Jorma Panula.
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He once taught both oboe and sound directing at the Latvian Academy of Music. He has played in the progressive rock groups “Salve” and “Sīpoli”, as well as in the ensemble “Marana”.
Under the direction of Normunds Šnē, more than 20 CDs have been recorded, including sound recording companies ECM, BIS, BMG / Connifer, Onyx, etc. In cooperation with the National Records Publishing House “Skani”, he wrote “Sinfonietta Rīga” music album ” Music by Andris Dzenītis, Anitra Tumševica and Linda Leimane. Normunds Šnē is also an avid radio amateur and an outstanding audio producer.
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