Aivis Greters, who previously worked as the choir’s second conductor, has been named the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of Youth Choir Kamēr…
Aivis Greters has sung with Kamēr… since 2009 and has been the choir’s second conductor since 2012. He earned his bachelor’s degree in choral conducting from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (JVLMA), studying under Professor Jānis Lindenbergs and Associate Professor Andris Veismanis. He further developed his skills at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden. Currently, Greters is completing further studies at JVLMA, studying orchestral conducting under Associate Professor Mārtiņš Ozoliņš. In 2013, Greters won 1st place at the Imants Kokars 1st International Young Conductors Competition; in 2014 he won a special prize at the Jāzeps Vītols International Choral Conductors competition, and in 2017 he won 1st place at the Nordic Choir Conductor Competition in Denmark.
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In celebration of Latvia’s Centenary, the “Riga Art Space” exhibition hall will hold a concert exhibition, “Kalpotājs. Blumbergs. Kamēr…” on the 23rd and 24th May at 19:00, dedicated to the works of great Latvian artist Ilmārs Blumbergs (1943-2016).
Surrounded by Blumbergs’ works of art, Youth Choir Kamēr… will perform seven world premieres as part of a specially created concert programme which, taking inspiration from the motifs of Blumbergs’ art and life, was created by loyal friends of the choir - composers Georgs Pelēcis, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Pēteris Vasks, Juris Karlsons, Gabriel Jackson, Dobrinka Tabakova and Vytautas Miškinis.
Blumbergs has left a bright, permanent impression on both the Latvian and international art world, and he worked with Youth Choir Kamēr... since the start of their creative activity, creating the choir’s artistic identity for many years.
The choir will occupy the exhibition hall with the help of director Viesturs Kairišs, choreographer Elīna Lutce and lighting designer Egils Kupčs. The choir is conducted Jānis Liepiņš.
Tickets can be bought at Biļešu Paradīze box offices and on the internet.
Partners: the Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council, Concert Organisation AVE SOL, Riga Art Space exhibition hall.
Supported by: State Culture Capital Foundation, Education, Culture and Sports Department of Riga City Council.
In this concert, choral music - one page out of Pēteris Vasks’ body of work - will be highlighted, and we will hear the international award-winning Youth Choir Kamēr… performing under their conductor Jānis Liepiņš with experienced performers of Vasks’ music, the Spīķeru String Quartet. The name of the concert reveals the programme’s dual core, including both the composer’s characteristic sacred music like “Our Father” and “Dona nobis pacem,” and songs which reveal his love for nature and his homeland, like the grand choral work “Mother Sun,” the frenetic “Message of the Titmouse” and his poetic “Plainscapes.”
This concert will also feature a surprise! Not all music lovers know that Pēteris Vasks studied at the Lithuanian State Conservatoire, graduating as a double bassist. Only afterwards, in Latvia, did he study composition. During the concert, Pēteris Vasks will stand alongside his own pieces and the concert’s other musicians, playing the double bass.
Pēteris Vasks, double bass
Youth Choir "Kamēr…"
Spīķeru String Quartet
Conductor Jānis Liepiņš
*This event is not suitable for children under the age of seven. Our crèche will be open during this performance.
Supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation.
On the 24th of February at 7pm, in Riga’s Zirgu Iela concert hall, the singers of Youth Choir “Kamēr…” will yield to the magical gestures of three of their colleagues and young, up-and-coming conductors.
Under the leadership of Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music choral conducting student Laura Ozoliņa, the audience will hear works by Jāzeps Vītols, Emilis Melngailis, Alfrēds Kalniņš and Sabīne Ķezbere; the choir’s long-time second conductor Aivis Greters has prepared opuses of Jānis Zālītis, Sven-David Sandström, B. Tommy Andersson and Thomas Jennefelt, while Latvian resident and American conductor Christopher Walsh Sinka will delight the audience with the music of Herbert Howells, Blake Wilson, Brian Galante and René Clausen.
Entry to the concert is free; tickets can be reserved electronically here.
Supported by the Education, Culture and Sports Department of Riga City Council.
Entry to the Zirgu Iela concert hall via 8 Zirgu Street.
We are pleased to announce that Youth Choir Kamēr…’s most recent accomplishment, the album "Pelēcis. Plakidis. Kamēr...", has been nominated among stiff competition for a “Golden Microphone 2018” at the Latvian Music Record Awards in two categories: “Academic music album” and “Best design 2017” (for the album’s visual design - artist Paulis Liepa).
We are happy to be nominated and we invite our supporters to cross their fingers on the 27th of February, when the award ceremony will take place!
