Song Day in Vīgante Park

The choirs participating in the Song Day are: "Vīgante", "Staburags", "Aizkraukle", "Daudzeva", "Alaine", "Loreleja", "Anima", "Dīvaja", "Vidzemīte", "Madliena", "De Cantare", "Let's Create", the senior class choir of Pēteris Barisons Aizkraukle Music School, the senior class choir of Koknese Music School, the 5th-11th grade choir of Pļaviņas Secondary School, the 5th-12th grade choir of Nereta Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš Secondary School, the 4th-11th grade choir of Andrejs Upītis Skrīveri Secondary School, the 5th-9th grade choir of Andrejs Eglītis Ļaudona Primary School. Total of 450 participants.

After the concert, there will be a green ball with a performance by the band "Kreicburgas ziķeri".

In the meeting house, visitors can see the exhibition of graduation works by students of Aizkraukle Art School and Jaunjelgava class, titled "Vilhelms Purvis' Drawings", watch a documentary short film "Along the Currents of Today", about how the young artist Jānis Grāvītis creates a monument for Pēteris Barisons, enjoy a café, browse a small crafts market, ride ponies, and have the opportunity to take a boat ride.

This summer, after the grand celebrations of the 150th Song Festival last year, the Aizkraukle region is marked by several significant choir tradition events.

It is known that as early as 1884, the Koknese Singing Society, with the participation of the Jurjānis brothers, organized a boat trip to Staburags to sing at this beautiful location. Perhaps, this was the first choir concert at this location, which took place in the summer, exactly 140 years ago.

The activities of Sēlija choirs and the organization of song festivals in the former Vīgante manor park started during the time of independent Latvia in the early 1920s. In 1923, the Song Day took place, but the first official Staburags Song Festival, conducted by Teodors Reiters, dates back to June 24, 1924, and this year we can celebrate its centenary.

In 1936, following Jānis Križus' project, the construction of an open-air stage from coastal boulders began, with seating for up to 800 singers and 10,000 spectators. The 1939 Song Festival was the first held at the new stage and the last of the First Republic of Latvia. The festivals continued even during the Soviet occupation until the construction of the Pļaviņas Hydroelectric Power Plant, which submerged this cultural-historical landscape under the waters of the Daugava. In 1965, the last song festival at Vīgante stage took place. The conductors were Jānis Ozoliņš, with Leonīds Vīgners invited as a guest from Riga, also conducting were Gido Kokars, Jānis Brants, local Tālivaldis Mekšs, and others. In later years, the stage was refurbished, and the choir singing tradition continues to this day.

In April, with various concerts, we also celebrated the 120th birthday of local composer Pēteris Barisons. The composer's ancestral home "Skudras" is located in our region, in Staburags parish. In the 1920s, four cultural societies were founded in the surroundings of Sēlpils, each with its choir. There was also a small orchestra. Pēteris Barisons actively participated in all these musical activities – the young composer, conductor, and, a quarter of a century later, the unofficial author of the Song Festival anthem "A Great Day for Song Today". A fellow countryman we are proud of.

Marking these important events and continuing the tradition, district choirs will gather in Vīgante Park on May 25.

The Song Day repertoire includes compositions by Pēteris Barisons, as well as folklorist, composer, and the organizer and conductor of the All-Latvian Song and Dance Festivals - Emīls Melngailis' Latvian folk song arrangements. These songs will sound in memory of the composer's 150th anniversary.

Valters Kaminskis' "Song by the Daugava" has become beloved not only among choir members in our region. It is gladly performed at various events along both banks of the Daugava in our region and is referred to as the unofficial anthem. This time, alongside the classic of the men's choir repertoire - "There Will Always Be Song in Eternity", it will sound as a tribute on the 95th anniversary of composer Valters Kaminskis.

The Song Day will involve the choirs of Aizkraukle district schools and cultural centers, as well as guest ensembles, with over 400 participants, under the direction of Aizkraukle district choir conductor Eduards Grāvīšs.

Let's meet in Vīgante Park, on the banks of the Daugava by the towering Staburags cliff, in this magical place where for a century and a half, choir voices intertwined with the beauty of nature and the secrets of the past.

To conclude the evening - a green ball, with a performance by "Kreicburgas ziķeri", entrance is free.