FESTIVAL “WINDSTREAM”. WHAT TO EXPECT THIS SPRING?
On the first day of astrological spring, March 20, the traditional Orchestra Riga spring festival “Windstream” will begin – there will be many unexpected collaborations and also a premiere.
The festival will start with the opening concert “Let’s start spring!” on March 20 at 19 o’clock at VEF Palace of Culture in Riga. The popular dance music of the second half of the 20th century will be performed in jazz rhythms by the bigband of the Orchestra Rīga led by Roberts Martini and the singer Daumants Kalniņš. The tap dance group “Soul tap” and the masters of classical ballroom, ballroom and sports dances Egija Abaroviča and Reinis Rešetins also will perform.
on March 25 at 19 o’clock In the framework of the festival, a concert in memory of the victims of the communist genocide “Songs of silence taken away” will be played in the Riga Cathedral. The program is designed as a prayer for the victims of the repressions, commemorating events that touch not only the tragic pages in the history of Latvia, but also the suffering and pain experienced by other nations. The concert program includes compositions by foreign composers for chamber ensembles and wind orchestras – “Fratres” by Arvo Pärt, “Reverie” from the 5th symphony “Phoenix” by James Barnes, “Dona nobis pacem” by Ralph W. Williams and “Chaconne” by Johann Sebastian Bach. The concert program will be complemented by the compositions of two contemporary Latvian composers – Santa Ratniece’s meditative music “Pļavas” and Jēkabs Jančevskis “Un pret savu tautas dziesmu”, as well as Latvian music classic – Jānis Mediņš “Ārija”. Valdis Butāns, the orchestra’s artistic director and conductor, is at the conductor’s desk.
On April 7 at 19 o’clock “Windstream” invites you to the Great Friday concert in Riga Cathedral. Karl Jenkins’ ambitious, world-renowned and solemn “Stabat Mater” will be performed by the Orchestra Riga, the “Ave Sol” Riga Chamber Choir, the mezzo-soprano Ieva Parša and the conductor Jurģis Cābulis.
Continuing the tradition of the festival, the interactive, cooperation-based event for families and children “Colour games with the orchestra “Rīga”” will be held on April 10 at 16 o’clock in the Palace of Culture “Ziemeļblāzma”. Orchestra Riga will delight the youngest listeners and their families with a colorful, cheerful and exciting program, with the participation of the attractive soloist Daumants Kalniņš.
The closing concert of the “Windstream” festival “Jauns” will be performed on April 15 at 19 o’clock in the concert hall “Lielā ģilde”. It includes a new composition, premiere, by Rihards Zaļups (Symphony for Wind Orchestra), as well as musical nuances for a young mind, arranged by the orchestra “Rīga” together with the saxophone quartet “Atomos”. The sound of the classical wind instrument orchestra will be complemented by the rhythms of techno, electronic music, jazz, bebop. In the program (besides the already mentioned new work) – Mason Bates’ “Mothership” and William Bolcon’s “Concerto Grosso for Sax Quartet and Band”.
Tickets for the opening and closing concerts of the festival are available at “Biļešu Pardīze”. Entrance to the other concerts is free.
