International Trombone Festival 2026

From 29 July to 1 August 2026, Riga will host the International Trombone Festival, bringing together more than 500 trombonists, teachers, students, composers, and music industry professionals from around the world. Held in a different country each year, the festival will be the largest gathering of performers dedicated to a single musical instrument ever staged in Latvia.

The concert will feature Hojarasca by Caroline Calvache, with trombonist Denis Jiron as the soloist. Next, Kristaps Malahovskis, principal trombonist of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, will perform one of the most celebrated works in the trombone repertoire—Launy Grøndahl’s Concerto for Trombone. The programme will conclude with Lauku kāzas for trombone trio by Latvian composer Gunārs Ordelovskis, founder of Orchestra “Riga”. This performance will also serve as the opening event of the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of Ordelovskis.

The concert will conclude with a performance of Björn Hallman’s Concerto for Trombone by Louise Pollock, Principal Trombone of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Together, these works showcase both the rich tradition of trombone performance and its exciting future, highlighting the instrument’s remarkable versatility within the vibrant sound world of the symphonic wind orchestra.

PROGRAMME

Gunārs Ordelovskis – Lauku kāzas (solo Denis Jiron, Kristaps Malahovskis, Louise Pollock)
Caroline Calvache – Hojarasca (solo Denis Jiron)
Launy Grøndahl / arr. Poul Ivan Møller – Concerto for Trombone and Band (solo Kristaps Malahovskis)
Björn Hallman – Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra (solo Louise Pollock)

The festival programme includes concerts, masterclasses, international competitions, lectures, composers’ workshops, professional panel discussions, and an exhibition of musical instruments and sheet music publishers.

Entrance: FREE OF CHARGE

For more information about the festival programme, please visit the festival website.