Press information, 12 December 2024, Riga. The Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO) invites listeners to ring in 2025 with the “LNSO New Year’s Concerts,” taking place this year in several Latvian cities. On 29 December, the concert programme will be performed at the “Cesis” Concert Hall, on 30 December at Latgale Embassy GORS, and on 3 and 4 January the festive programme will be available to symphonic music lovers in Riga at Hanzas Perons. These concerts will feature exquisite works by beloved composers such as Johann Strauss, Maurice Ravel, Antonin Dvorak, Bela Bartok and others. Performing with the orchestra, conducted by Aivis Greters, will be the young Ukrainian violin virtuoso Bohdan Luts. The LNSO New Year’s Concerts will be hosted by cultural journalist and musicologist Anete Asmane-Vilsone.

The New Year’s Concerts will feature Johann Strauss’ magnificent and festive waltzes and polkas, Maurice Ravel’s vivid and richly coloured “Tzigane,” the famous “Bolero,” Carl Nielsen’s sparkling overture to the opera “Maskarade,” Bela Bartok’s fiery, folk-inspired “Romanian Folk Dances,” Spanish composer Pablo de Sarasate’s “Introduction and Tarantella,” and Antonin Dvorak’s Eighth Slavonic Dance.

Ukrainian violinist Bohdan Luts possesses not only outstanding technical mastery but also profound musical sensitivity. He was born in Lviv in 2004 and currently studies at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland. The musician has received top honours at various international violin competitions, including first place at the prestigious Carl Nielsen International Competition in Denmark in 2022. He has performed with internationally acclaimed orchestras, giving concerts in various European countries. His future projects include a solo recording with the Odense Symphony Orchestra and performances with leading Nordic orchestras. This will be the violinist’s first visit to Latvia.

Conductor Aivis Greters, meanwhile, is one of the most prominent Latvian conductors of the moment, whose talent has already gained wide international recognition. In the early stages of his career he was artistic director of the choir “Kamer…”, during which time the choir achieved several high placements at world-class choir competitions. Aivis Greters has already conducted the LNSO on several occasions, and has also performed with orchestras such as the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, among others. He is a recipient of the Great Music Award in the category “Young Artist of the Year.” Greters currently serves simultaneously as assistant conductor at the Orchestre de Paris and at the Gothenburg Opera.

Tickets can be purchased at “Bilesu Paradize” box offices and online.