Just last week all of Latvia celebrated maestro Raimonds Pauls’ 90th anniversary, and this week – on 22 and 23 January at 19:00 at the Riga Congress Hall – the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO), the Latvian Radio Big Band (LRBB) and the State Choir Latvija, with soloists Aija Vitolina, Daumants Kalnins and pianist Matiss Zilinskis, conducted by Maris Sirmais, invite audiences to special concerts in honour of the maestro’s anniversary. The concerts will feature premieres of well-known Raimonds Pauls compositions in new arrangements by British composer Callum Au and French composer Pierre Bertrand. The concert will also include previously heard arrangements of Raimonds Pauls’ works by Jekabs Jancevskis and Rihards Dubra.

Without Raimonds Pauls, Latvian music would not be what it is today – it even seems that Latvian identity itself would be different. That is precisely why brilliant ensembles (LNSO, the State Choir Latvija and the Latvian Radio Big Band) and outstanding soloists (Aija Vitolina, Daumants Kalnins and Matiss Zilinskis) have come together for this programme, to jointly mark Raimonds Pauls’ milestone anniversary across two concerts. At the anniversary concert, audiences will hear popular and beloved melodies arranged by Callum Au and Pierre Bertrand, as well as by Jekabs Jancevskis and Rihards Dubra, together with the maestro’s choral songs performed by the State Choir Latvija.

The programme includes beloved songs such as Par pedejo lapu, Kurzeme, Atdziedi dvesele, Davaja Marina meitenei muzinu and Viss nak un aiziet taluma, along with famous melodies from the films Teatris and Ilgais cels kapas.

Callum Au is a British composer, arranger, conductor and trombonist known for his ability to bridge the worlds of jazz and classical music. Born in London, he studied at Balliol College, Oxford, where he led the Oxford University Big Band. Although Callum is also a notable trombonist – since 2012 he has played in the prestigious Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra – composition and arranging have taken the central role in his career. Over the past decade he has become one of the most sought-after arrangers in Britain, collaborating with world-class artists including Michael Buble, Quincy Jones, Jamie Cullum and RAYE, as well as leading orchestras such as the Metropole Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the WDR Funkhausorchester. His arrangements have achieved wide acclaim – from Michael Buble’s Grammy-winning album Higher to the film adaptation of Cats (2019).

Pierre Bertrand is a saxophonist, flautist, composer, arranger, conductor and educator whose career combines jazz, classical and world music. As a bandleader, composer and educator, Pierre Bertrand has become a significant figure in contemporary French and European jazz, highly valued for his sophisticated orchestrations, melodic imagination and genre fusions. His versatility shows in his ability to work freely across chamber music, big band projects and symphonic works. Bertrand’s personal projects vividly reflect his creative spirit: his group Caja Negra combines jazz with flamenco, while the albums Far East Suite (2018), Colors (2021) and Hope (2023) reveal his mastery of orchestral colour, lyrical saxophone sound and cross-cultural influences. His symphonic project Harmonia includes his first saxophone concerto and the orchestral suite Bailes.

Singer Aija Vitolina’s career began in 2003 following a successful collaboration with the production team Virus Art on the musical project Tango Sin Quinto. In 2018 the singer released her first solo album Klusums (Silence). Aija Vitolina has collaborated with various composers, including Karlis Lacis and Edgars Raginskis, among others.

Singer Daumants Kalnins began his professional career at the age of nine, playing the role of young Mozart in the opera The Magic Flute at the Latvian National Opera, later also taking part in other Latvian National Opera productions. Kalnins has collaborated with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra Riga, the Latvian Radio Choir, the Jelgava Big Band, and other leading musicians and ensembles, performing both in Latvia and abroad, including in the USA, Japan, India and elsewhere.

At the piano, audiences will meet the young and talented jazz pianist Matiss Zilinskis. He is a musician and pianist in the fourth generation – his father, and previously also his grandfather and great-grandfather Arvids Zilinskis, a composer and professor at the Latvian State Conservatory, all worked at a high level in music. Matiss Zilinskis has been actively involved in various musical projects – a record with Uzvaras bulvaris released on the Jersika Records label, work in the ensemble The Electrodes with vocalist Una Daniela-Aizgale, the duo Talie krasti with actor Raimonds Celms, and collaboration with the vocal trio Neaizmirstulites. In 2022 his debut album Childhood Memories was released.

Tickets for both concerts are sold out. Listeners are invited to tune in to the 22 January concert broadcast live on Latvian Radio 3 Klasika.