Premieres. Palestrina 500
14.08.2025 19:00 to 14.08.2025 20:30
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Participants:
State Academic Choir “Latvia”
Conductor Māris Sirmais
Program:
Jānis Rubiks “Be Here Now” – new work
Jānis Lūsēns “Five Rilke Poems” – new work
Irīna Mihailovska “Via Amoris” – new work
Works by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Lorenzo Donati for choir
The State Academic Choir “Latvia” and its artistic director Māris Sirmais invite enthusiasts to the 28th International Sacred Music Festival, which will take place from August 14 to September 5 at St. Peter's Church and the Congress Hall. Four concert programs have been selected, featuring a stylistically rich range of sacred music, consisting of Italian late Renaissance vocal polyphony pearls with their echoes in modern times, new works by Latvian composers, Scandinavian and French choral music lyricism, peaks of contemporary Estonian classical music, as well as a Latvian premiere – the first passion expressing Buddha's teachings, musically merging Eastern and Western cultures.
The festival's opening concert “Premieres. Palestrina” on August 14 at St. Peter's Church in Riga, under the direction of conductor Māris Sirmais and through the voices of the State Academic Choir “Latvia,” will create musical bridges connecting five distant centuries. This year marks the significant 500th anniversary of the leading late Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, honored during his lifetime and still today as a master of perfectly refined vocal polyphony. His masterpieces will alternate with motets by contemporary Italian composer Lorenzo Donati, based on Palestrina's themes. Alongside these, the premieres of three new works by contemporary composers will be featured – “Be Here and Now” for mixed choir a cappella by double bassist, bassist, composer and arranger Jānis Rubiks, “Five Rilke Poems” – a cycle for mixed choir and percussion by composer and Music House “Ozolu Skola” owner Jānis Lūsēns, as well as “Via Amoris” for mixed choir and electronics by conductor, ethnomusicologist, composer, and State Academic Choir “Latvia” artist Irīna Mihailovska.
State Academic Choir “Latvia”
Conductor Māris Sirmais
Program:
Jānis Rubiks “Be Here Now” – new work
Jānis Lūsēns “Five Rilke Poems” – new work
Irīna Mihailovska “Via Amoris” – new work
Works by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Lorenzo Donati for choir
The State Academic Choir “Latvia” and its artistic director Māris Sirmais invite enthusiasts to the 28th International Sacred Music Festival, which will take place from August 14 to September 5 at St. Peter's Church and the Congress Hall. Four concert programs have been selected, featuring a stylistically rich range of sacred music, consisting of Italian late Renaissance vocal polyphony pearls with their echoes in modern times, new works by Latvian composers, Scandinavian and French choral music lyricism, peaks of contemporary Estonian classical music, as well as a Latvian premiere – the first passion expressing Buddha's teachings, musically merging Eastern and Western cultures.
The festival's opening concert “Premieres. Palestrina” on August 14 at St. Peter's Church in Riga, under the direction of conductor Māris Sirmais and through the voices of the State Academic Choir “Latvia,” will create musical bridges connecting five distant centuries. This year marks the significant 500th anniversary of the leading late Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, honored during his lifetime and still today as a master of perfectly refined vocal polyphony. His masterpieces will alternate with motets by contemporary Italian composer Lorenzo Donati, based on Palestrina's themes. Alongside these, the premieres of three new works by contemporary composers will be featured – “Be Here and Now” for mixed choir a cappella by double bassist, bassist, composer and arranger Jānis Rubiks, “Five Rilke Poems” – a cycle for mixed choir and percussion by composer and Music House “Ozolu Skola” owner Jānis Lūsēns, as well as “Via Amoris” for mixed choir and electronics by conductor, ethnomusicologist, composer, and State Academic Choir “Latvia” artist Irīna Mihailovska.
Categories:
Festivals, Festivities;
Concerts;
Location on the map
Location:
Address: Rīgas Sv. Pētera baznīca, Skārņu iela 19
