State Choir Latvija

The State Choir Latvija is one of Europe’s most well-known choirs, invited to collaborate with world-class conductors and orchestras, and requested at prestigious concert halls and festivals. The singers’ musical intelligence and skill makes this a musical unit that feels as at home in delicate a cappella choral music as in large-format performances with triple orchestra. Since 1997, the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the choir is Māris Sirmais, and the Executive Director is Māris Ošlejs.

The State Choir LATVIJA is a regular guest at one of the world’s most important concert halls: the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. The choir has performed the second and third symphonies of Gustav Mahler and György Ligeti’s Requiem alongside the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and conductor Kent Nagano, and gave a solo performance in 2019 alongside organist Iveta Apkalna.

In 2020, the choir once again returned to the famous Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam to perform Igor Stravinsky’s opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex alongside the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 2019, the choir performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa solemnis at Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica, Madrid’s National Music Auditorium and the Auditorio de Zaragoza under conductor Gianandrea Noseda.  Similarly significant was the choir’s participation at Germany’s Ruhrtriennale, one of the world’s most ambitious and prestigious cross-genre festivals, where they sang Ligeti’s Requiem as part of a performance entitled Revolution.

The world’s leading classical music magazine, Gramophone, included the State Choir LATVIJA’s latest recording, Sempiternam: Choral Music by Rhona Clarke, in its May 2022 Editor’s Choice. Prominent music publication BBC Music Magazine said of the choir’s album  Pēteris Vasks: Lūgšana/Prayer:  “The State Choir LATVIJA’s sound is both passionate and refined.” Fragments of the album Aeternum, which features new works by Latvian composers, were broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune programme.

The choir turns 80 in 2022. The State Choir LATVIJA began its anniversary season with a performance of EJ NU EJ, Laura Jēkabsone’s chamber opera for children, in collaboration with Director Reinis Suhanovs, choreographer Elīna Gediņa and costume designer Kristīne Pasternaka. The chamber opera has already captured the hearts of children and the public, and continues to tour Latvia.

The State Choir LATVIJA is an internationally in-demand, stable and academic institution which has, during its years of operation, performed in the most prestigious concert halls and collaborated with the best conductors, orchestras and film and classical music recording companies worldwide.