Press information, 29 January 2025, Riga. “Symphonic Hit with Goran Gora” is a multimedia concert series created by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, bringing together outstanding works of symphonic music with both educational and entertaining value. The first concert of 2025 will take place on 30 January at Hanzas Perons, where narrator Janis Holsteins-Upmanis, known as Goran Gora, will invite special guests onto the stage – co-author of the music for the animated film “Flow,” Rihards Zalupe, and film director Dzintars Dreibergs – to join the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO) and conductor Mikael Loponen in introducing audiences to the behind-the-scenes world of film music and some of its most captivating examples. Meanwhile, the upcoming concert on 20 March at Hanzas Perons, under Vilhelms Vacietis, will prompt listeners to consider a question: will artificial intelligence become a composer’s equal in creating musical works?
There are symphonic works that have, over their lifetime, spread far beyond concert hall stages and classical music radio stations – some, for instance, are heard in outstanding films. The reverse also happens – scores written specifically for film break free of their cinematic frame and begin an independent life in concert halls. How music shapes what we see on screen, and how the art of cinema shapes a composer’s work, can be discovered on 30 January at 19:00 at Hanzas Perons, at the concert “Symphonic Hit with Goran Gora. Blockbuster Movie Music.” The concert will feature symphonic hits such as the introduction to Richard Strauss’ tone poem “Also sprach Zarathustra,” Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” arranged for symphony orchestra, and others, as well as film music – Rihards Zalupe’s music for the animated film “The Lost Socks,” Imants Kalnins’ music for the film “Sonata by the Lake,” and Platon Buravicky’s music for the film “Safety Last.” Special guests at this concert will be film director Dzintars Dreibergs and film music composer Rihards Zalupe, who together with Goran Gora will discuss the relationship between music and film and its key nuances. The concert will be conducted by Mikael Loponen.
The next concert in the “Symphonic Hit with Goran Gora” series will take place on 20 March at 19:00 at Hanzas Perons, and this time the focus will be on the coexistence of composer-created music and artificial intelligence. Under conductor Vilhelms Vacietis, the concert will feature Maurice Ravel’s famous “Bolero” and other works, as well as a new work created by AI. The concept behind this concert is based on the idea that the mathematical approaches once used by composers in creating musical works can today be realised using artificial intelligence tools. Yet a pressing question remains – can AI create a new musical work that delivers genuine emotional fulfilment? Answers to these questions will be sought at the concert, which will also feature a special guest – an artificial intelligence specialist.
The director of the “Symphonic Hit with Goran Gora” concert series is Roberts Rubins, the dramaturge is Janis Jonevs, and the visual artists are Kriss Salmanis and animator Pauls Poikans. Through Janis Jonevs’ witty and easily digestible storytelling, listeners are given the chance to discover engaging historical details, the mood of composers at the time their works were created, the context of the era, and musical nuances worth paying attention to when listening to academic music. The multimedia concerts are always hosted by narrator, singer-songwriter and composer Janis Holsteins-Upmanis, known as Goran Gora, who is able to knowledgeably and engagingly address both experienced listeners and those attending a symphonic music concert for the first time. The concert format resonates well with the new competency-based education system, as it covers musical, historical and cultural-historical aspects, often touching on literary and theatrical sources of inspiration as well.
The concerts are included in the subscription “Symphonic Hit with Goran Gora. Subscription 2024/2025.” Tickets for LNSO concerts can be purchased at “Bilesu Paradize” box offices or online.