March 07, 2012
Latvia-born singer Laima Vaikule, backed by the female trio Lady’s Sweet and with a guest appearance by singer Jānis Stībelis (who also uses the stage name Jay Stever), kicks off a month-long tour of the United States and Canada with a March 8 concert in the Seattle area.
The concert tour, which will visit 15 cities, is aimed primarily at Russian-speaking audiences and is supported by the Russian-language television network RTVI.
Vaikule is best known as a singer who since the mid-1980s has been popular among Russian audiences. She has worked closely with Latvian popular composer Raimonds Pauls. Vaikule also is an actress, director and choreographer.
Vaikule’s 1996 concert program in Latvia, Russia and the United States earned her a Great Music Award (Lielā mūzikas balva).
Vaikule has released seven albums, according to her website, with the most recent being last year’s Новые песни.
Lady’s Sweet is a relatively new vocal trio that includes singers Karīna Tropa, Vineta Elksne and Jolanta Strikaite.
Stībelis, known as a pop and rhythm-and-blues singer, has seen a certain degree of success in Latvia and Russia. He won the Jaunais Vilnis (New Wave) competition in 2002. Stībelis has released a number of albums, the most recent being 2010’s Diapozitīvi.
Concerts are scheduled in:
- Washington at 8 p.m. March 8 in the Edmonds Center for the Arts, 410 4th Ave. N., Edmonds.
- California at 7 p.m. March 10 in the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center, 2850 19th Ave., San Francisco.
- California at 7 p.m. March 11 in the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 West 8th St., Los Angeles.
- California at 7:30 p.m. March 12 in the Sherwood Auditorium (Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego), 700 Prospect St., La Jolla.
- Texas at 7 p.m. March 17 in the Lakewood Theater, 1825 Abrams Road, Dallas.
- Florida at 8 p.m. March 20 in the N.M.B. Performing Arts Theater, 17011 N.E. 19th Ave., North Miami Beach.
- Illinois at 8 p.m. March 23 in the Christian Heritage Academy, 315 Waukegan Road, Northfield (near Chicago).
- Ontario at 8 p.m. March 24 in the Global Kingdom Ministries, 1250 Markham Road, Scarborough (near Toronto).
- Michigan at 7 p.m. March 25 in the Shriners Silver Garden Events Center, 24350 Southfield Road, Southfield (near Detroit).
- Ohio ata 8 p.m. March 27 at the Tri-C Eastern Campus, 4250 Richmond Road, Highland Hills (near Cleveland).
- Pennsylvania at 8 p.m. March 29 in the Archbishop Wood High School, 655 York Road, Warminter (near Philadelphia).
- New York at 8 p.m. March 30 in the Whitman Theater, Brooklyn College, 2900 Campus Road, Brooklyn.
- Massachusetts at 7:30 p.m. March 31 in the John Hancock Hall, 180 Berkeley St., Boston.
- New Jersey at 6:30 p.m. April 1 in the FORM Theater, 314 Main St., Metuchen.
- Maryland at 8 p.m. April 3 in the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, 7401 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore.
For further information about Vaikule, visit her website, laima.com or her Facebook page. More information about Lady’s Sweet is found on the group’s website, ladyssweet.com, or on its Facebook page. Details on Stībelis may be found on janisstibelis.lv. Further details about the concert tour are available on the website www.rtviprojects.com.
Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000-2012 he was editor of the website.
