Latvian Radio Choir

The Latvian Radio Choir is a professional choir founded in 1940 by the legendary Latvian conductor Teodors Kalniņš, who led it until his death in 1962. After different conductors, from 1992 to 2023, the principal conductor and artistic director of the choir has been Sigvards Kļava. Starting with 2024, Kaspars Putniņš has taken on the role of artistic director. The choir’s core ensemble is made up of 25 singers, and the number of singers varies according to the repertoire, from an ensemble for early music to a choir of several dozen singers for larger works.

The Latvian Radio Choir performs around 60 concerts a year in Latvia and abroad, with music by Baltic and Latvian composers featuring prominently. The choir has received Latvia’s highest music award (the Grand Music Award) five times and has won several awards for its recordings, most notably a Grammy in 2014 for its recording of Arvo Pärt’s “Adam’s Lament” (ECM) with conductor Tõnu Kaljuste.

In 2016, the choir and conductor Sigvards Kļava released an album dedicated to Arvo Pärt’s work, “Da pacem Domine”,  which has also been very sympathetic to the composer himself. The choir will now open the concert season celebrating Arvo Pärt’s 90th birthday at the Arvo Pärt Centre with this complete programme.