The indie “dream pop” band Tribes of the City is set to present its second album Jan. 16 during a concert in the Studentu Klubs in Rīga. The album is titled Recipe of the Golden Dream.

The band also plans a seven-city tour in Russia, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, according to a press release from Rīga-based Platforma Music.

Recipe of the Golden Dream is a double album with 15 tracks. “This album is like a collection of individual emotions—viewed through the prism of reality—from visions and scenes that come from memories,” the band says in the press release.

Band members include Mihails Sergejevs on keyboards, Andrejs Vasiļjevs on guitar, Juris Justs on bass, Ints Barkāns on drums, Sergejs Jaramisjans on guitar and Ksenija Sundejeva vocals.

The new album is a followup to For the Sleepy People, released in 2006. But it should be remembered that the band really has released three albums so far, the first being Running to the Sun in 2004 back when the ensemble was known as The Movies. (Speaking of movies, Sundejeva also appears in the Latvian feature film Amatieris, released in April 2008. The DVD version was supposed to hit stores in December.)

For more on Tribes of the City, visit the band’s MySpace or draugiem.lv pages.

The Dabas koncertzāle project, which consists of Ingus Ulmanis, Aigars Voitišķis and other musicians, has releaed its second album of nature-related ambient music, Hydropsyche instabilis, Rīga-based recording company Platforma Music announced Jan. 7.

Ulmanis and Voitišķis are better known as the core of the group Lādezers, formed in 1987 when they left the legendary band Jumprava. Others appearing on Hydropsyche instabilis are Jekaterina Šarigina on vocals, Gints Sola on guitar, Kaspars Tobis on keyboards, Mārtiņš Strautnieks on keyboards and nature sounds, Roberts Rasa on bass and Anrijs Grinbergs on percussion.

In a press release announcing the new album, Hydropsyche instabilis is described as unveiling the magical and ever-changing world of water. The album takes its title from the Latin name for the caddisfly or sedge, a small moth-like insect found near water. On its Web site, the Dabas koncertzāle project is described as a “unique attempt, with the help of music, to actualize and strengthen the interaction between people and nature.”

Tracks on the album include:

1. Iii tēma
2. Pēc lietus elpa
3. Stīgalas
4. Līdakas
5. Līdz-Balss
6. Anrijs Viens
7. Pāri domas
8. Nakts ūdens dvēsele
9. Diena pēc dienas
10. Ting-tong (šūpuļdziesma)

Dabas koncertzāle released its first album, Čunčiņa dienas un nakts grāmata, in 2008.

For more on the Dabas koncertzāle project, visit www.dabaskoncerts.lv.

Choir director Gido Kokars is to receive the Great Music Award (Lielā mūzikas balva) for his lifetime of achievement, the award’s nominating committee announced Jan. 7 in Rīga. Kokars has led several choirs through his career, has taught at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music and has been principal conductor of several Latvian Song Festivals.

His twin brother Imants, also a well-known choir director and teacher, received the award in 1995.

The Great Music Award is the highest state honor for musical achievement. It was initiated in 1993 by popular composer Raimonds Pauls, who at the time was the minister of culture.

Nominees for other awards are:

• For debut of the year, pianist Andrejs Osokins, opera singer Rihards Bramanis, and composer and percussionist Rihards Zaļupe.
• For concert of the year, the vocal group Cosmos; the concert “Dāvida dziesmas” featuring Gunta Davidčuka, Kristīne Adamaite and Artis Sīmanis; and the Oct. 18 opening concert of the Arena Music Festival.
• For work in an ensemble, Agnese Kanniņa-Liepiņa, Diāna Ozoliņa and Jānis Stafeckis.
• For individual achievement in Latvia, Diāna Ketlere for her Sept. 23 concert “Eiropas kamermūzikas šedevri” in the Small Guild; singer Intars Busulis for his concerts of jazz and cabaret music and for concerts in support of his album Kino; and Latvian National Opera soloist Krišjānis Norvelis.
• For interpretation, the chamber orchestra Sinfonietta Rīga for its Oct. 18 performance during the Arena Music Festival; the Riga Dome Boys Choir for its Dec. 30 and 31 concerts in the Luther Church in Rīga; and singer Ieva Parša for her performance in the Nov. 12 concert “Kaislību spēles.”
• For performance of the year, the youth choir Kamēr for its July 3-4 concerts in the University of Latvia and for its compact disc Pasaules Saules dziesmas; the Nov. 17 performance, conducted by Imants Resnis, of Gustav Mahler’s “8th Symphony” in Arēna Rīga; the Latvian National Opera for the Richard Wagner opera “Zigfrīds.”
• For new compositions, Andris Dzenītis for “Let it be Forgotten” and “Baložu pasts”, and Gustavs Fridrihsons for “Chiaroscuro.”

The awards will be presented March 3 in the Latvian National Opera in Rīga.

For more on the awards, visit www.muzikasbalva.lv, where music fans also will have the opportunity to vote for their favorites.