Festival “Riga Symphony 2016” Concludes with Victory for Lithuanian Representative

On 5 December, the Charity Gala Concert and the final of the vocal competition of the festival “Riga Symphony 2016” were held at the “Ziemeļblāzma” Palace of Culture. Six contestants competed for the “Grand Prix”: Raushan Kalaubajeva (Kazakhstan; “Raimonds Pauls Song” category), the duo “Alexander Filin and Ivena Rabotova” (Russia; jazz category), Karashash Nsanova (Kazakhstan; “World Hit” category), Valeriia Iļina (Lithuania; “Original Song” category), Sofija Mihailova (Russia; “Folk Song” category), and Niks Freimanis (Latvia; “Academic Vocal” category). The main “Riga Symphony 2016” prize was won by Valeriia Iļina, a representative of neighbouring Lithuania, with her original song “Pavakarys”. 

According to festival producer Irēna Emīlia Švilpe, the festival received very positive feedback this year: “All the festival and competition participants praised the content and organisation of the event we arranged, while several young people admitted that ‘Riga Symphony’ had changed their perception of what children’s and young people’s music events should be like. Indeed, we are very pleased with what we have accomplished!”

“The Gala Concert itself, directed by singer Liene Greifāne, was truly fantastic as well: the performances by ‘Dzirnas’, ‘Dvīņi’ and ‘Almost Famous’ were all excellent! The stage design was also stunning,” Irēna Emīlia continues, adding that Liene Greifāne herself, who directed the Gala Concert for the second year in a row, was also very pleased. The festival producer also reminds audiences that the festival’s Gala Concert will be broadcast on the TV24 channel on 1 January 2017.

As previously reported, all proceeds from the Charity Gala Concert will be donated to the Piejūra Boarding Primary School. This year, the “Riga Symphony” festival was held for the fifth time.

We would like to remind you that shortly after the first Riga Symphony festival in 2012, its organisers received countless positive reviews—from colleagues, cooperation partners and the Riga city administration, as well as from official representatives of foreign delegations in Latvia and the management of foreign host organisations (including the UK-based PRS for Music Foundation and the president of WAFA—the World Association of Festivals and Artists). Since Riga Symphony has been a WAFA member for several years, this year’s WAFA members’ gathering will be organised in Riga as part of the Riga Symphony festival. 

Riga Symphony festival website: - http://rigasymphony.lv