World Choir Games to entertain Riga

  • 2014-07-03
  • By TBT staff

RIGA - Between July 9-19, the World Choir Games will present more than 100 different choir events in Riga’s concert halls, on open-air stages in parks and squares, and outside Riga too. Competitions, friendship concerts, master classes by world-class musicians and a meeting of the World Choir Council will make Riga the world choir capital for two weeks.
“One of our objectives is to show the public, in the context of the World Choir Games, the many diverse meanings of the simple verb ‘to sing’” says World Choir Games Artistic Director and conductor Romans Vanags. This will be affirmed by competitions in 29 categories, including academic choir singing, sacred music, traditional folk music, as well as jazz, pop, spirituals and gospel music.

“Choirs are coming to Riga to take part in competitions and this friendly rivalry adds a drop of tension to the World Choir Games. All the choirs are professionally assessed and receive acknowledgment awards,” notes Diana Civle, director of the Riga 2014 Foundation. All the competition categories will be judged by competent juries made up from 80 internationally recognized music professionals.

The Games trophies have been designed by well-known sculptor Olga Silova who explained the concept behind them: “the mountain motif and rhythmic lines of the bridge stimulate the imagination, symbolizing the positive nature of music that transcends national and cultural borders, but the embedded amber takes us back to Latvia – a bead of amber on the Baltic Sea shore, home to the eighth World Choir Games.”

In addition to the World Choir Games program, world-known vocal music stars will come to Riga to perform several concerts – the vocalists “The Real Group” from Sweden and “The King`s Singers” from Great Britain.
A special guest of the World Choir Games will be the American composer, five-time Grammy award nominee Morten Lauridsen, whose music has held an important place in the repertoire of professional music groups, as well as amateur choir programs in the whole world for several decades. Within the program, Lauridsen will perform in the Stars of the World Choir Games Concert I, together with Riga’s chamber choir “Ave Sol.”

“People just have to enjoy all those different cultures, the fantastic energy that a choir music concert can offer,” says Ints Teterovskis, conductor and artistic director of the choir “Balsis,” about the upcoming World Choir Games.
“I am glad that, finally, an international choir competition will be held in Latvia. Our choirs are well known everywhere in the world, and those collectives have been a trademark for a high-quality performance. It’s because we have had great choir conductors for many generations. Foreign singers will be able to see Latvia, this unique place where those choir singers live and work while Latvian audience will see choirs they would not meet in any other circumstances.”

MAIN EVENTS
09.07 - 20:00 Opening ceremony 10.07 - 19:00 Celebration concert 10.07 - 21:00 Stars of the World Choir Games I
11.07 - 20:00: “The Real Group” concert
12.07 - 19:00 Award Ceremony I 13.07 - 09:00 Award Ceremony II 13.07 - 15:00 Champion concert I 13.07 - 15:00 Champion concert II 13.07 - 21:00 The Great Celebration concert
14.07 - 18:00 Baltic boys choir concert
14.07 - 20:00 “The King’s Singers” concert
16.07 - 20:00 “The King’s Singers,” “Latvian Voices” and “Xylem TRIO” concert
17.07 - 21:00 Stars of the World Choir Games II
18.07 - 19:00 Award Ceremony III 19.07 - 09:00 Award Ceremony IV 19.07 - 15:00 Champion concert III 19.07 - 15:00 Champion concert IV 19.07 - 20:00 Closing ceremony
Additional information on concerts, locations and tickets can be found at www.bilesuparadize.lv