Press information, 13 September 2024. On 20 September in Vilnius and 21 September at Latgale Embassy GORS, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra will open its 99th season. The opening concerts will feature “Tango” by Arturs Maskats, the LNSO’s composer-in-residence for the new season, alongside works by two English composers – Gustav Holst’s suite “The Planets” and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Sinfonia antartica.” On the podium will be Tarmo Peltokoski, who with this concert begins his final season as LNSO artistic director and chief conductor. Audiences can travel to the LNSO 99th season opening concert at Latgale Embassy GORS on a specially arranged Riga-Rezekne-Riga bus service.
With the concerts in Vilnius and Rezekne, Tarmo Peltokoski begins his last season as LNSO artistic director and chief conductor. Audiences and musicians alike will have the chance to see their beloved conductor with the orchestra in four more concerts before the end of the year. Further information is available on the LNSO website.
“Our new, 99th season will be different from many previous ones, and if seasons could be given titles, I would call this one the season ON THE ROAD. In the new season the LNSO will be constantly on the road in the most literal sense of the word – our everyday rehearsal life will take place at the Congress Hall, but we will give concerts in various halls in Riga, Cesis, Rezekne, Ventspils, Liepaja and Vilnius, each time covering a shorter or longer distance to reach the concert hall. Being on the road means being in motion, in development, in dynamism. As an orchestra we want to reflect these qualities in our diverse concert programmes too, whether it is LeNeSOns for the youngest, Goran Gora for young people, chamber music, or major symphonic and even operatic productions. We always want to surprise our audiences! We set out on the road together with our inspiring musical leader, conductor Tarmo Peltokoski, the brilliant violinist Vineta Sareika, and many other outstanding musicians. Here’s to a new season rich in wonderful musical experiences and surprises for us all!” says LNSO board member Indra Lukina about the upcoming season.
The concert will feature “Tango” by the season’s composer-in-residence Arturs Maskats, once performed in the final of the Third International Symphonic Composition Competition “Masterprize 2003” in London. The accordion part in the 20 and 21 September concerts will be performed together with the orchestra by the widely experienced and acclaimed accordionist Arturs Noviks. Also taking the stage will be Riga Cathedral’s music director and organist Aigars Reinis, whose organ playing will be heard in Gustav Holst’s suite “The Planets” and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Sinfonia antartica.” Gustav Holst’s 150th birth anniversary is being marked this year, and his most famous work – the orchestral suite “The Planets” – will be performed at the 99th season opening concert. Each of the suite’s seven movements is dedicated to a different planet of the solar system and its astrological character. In its closing movement, “Neptune, the Mystic,” the orchestra will be joined by the singers of the Riga Project Choir, led by Kristofers Valsi-Sinka. Their voices will also fill the hall of Latgale Embassy GORS in the performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Seventh Symphony, “Sinfonia antartica.”
Tickets are available online. To follow the latest LNSO news, please visit the LNSO website and the orchestra’s Facebook page. The concert is financially supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation. Tickets for LNSO’s new season concerts can be purchased at “Bilesu Paradize” sales points, as well as online.