The Riga Project Choir (Rīgas projektu koris) is a relatively new choir in Latvia, having been founded in 2018. In its short period of existence, the choir has distinguished itself as one of the premiere amateur choirs in Latvia, and has confirmed their skill in interpreting and performing a varied and demanding modern choral repertoire. The founder and artistic director of the choir is American conductor Christopher Walsh Sinka.

Many of the singers in the choir have sung in other well known, prestigious Latvian amateur choirs, and they have brought their experiences and talents to the Riga Project Choir. As its name would indicate, the work of the choir focuses on specific ‘projects’ and concert programs. As per their website, just a few of the projects include performing programs like Laura Jēkabsone’s Folk Passion, Anton Bruckner’s Mass in E Minor, as well as programs that highlighted recent compositions, such as ‘Sumptuous Planet’ (Grezna planēta), which featured the Latvian premieres of eight choral works.

One of their recent projects, and the project that inspired the recording of their first album, was ‘Song of songs’ (Augstā dziesma), which was a series of concerts in 2023 that included choral works both modern and ancient that were inspired by the Old Testament book, also known as ‘The Song of Solomon’. All of the newer choral works in the program were by women Latvian composers (six of which were composed specifically for the choir), and the choir recorded those and released the album Already Bloomed (Jau izplaukuši) via the Latvian national record label Skani in 2025.

The album displays a dramatic and emotional variety in the nine recorded works, with themes of love and passion inspired by the Biblical text. Ruta Paidere’s ‘Jau izplaukuši’ depicts the meeting of lovers in a nut tree grove. The work, often unsettling and uneasy, features a soprano and bass duet (performed by Agnese Pauniņa and Jānis Petrovskis) while the choir provides an atmospheric and ethereal backdrop for the work.

 Irīna Mihailovska’s ‘Viņa kreisā roka guļ zem manas galvas’ stands out with its layered harmonies, and display’s the choir’s vocal skills and clarity, and brings forth the passion of the text, where a woman does not want her lover to awake.

Evija Skuķe’s ‘Naraudavu’ is her arrangement of a Latgalian funeral folk song and combines elements of the traditional Latgalian singing style (described as ‘belting’ in the CD booklet) with an Orthodox-like performance by the choir. The powerful duet of sopranos Guna Rasa and Alise Bērziņa-Rozenbaha is supplemented by the rich and melodic sound of the choir.

‘Kā lilija starp ērkšķiem’ by Līva Blūma begins with a Gregorian like performance in the male voices, which is then joined by the women’s voices, creating a kind of dialogue between the two. The song, about the meeting of two lovers in a wine cellar, grows to a powerful climax, and concludes with subdued and emotionally rich solos by alto Madara Ambrēna and soprano Elizabete Štoma.

The poetry of Latvian poet Kārlis Skalbe provides the text for Lauma Kazaka’s ‘No saknes zieds uz augšu veras’ and the choir creates a vivid musical vision of Skalbe’s metaphor of love being the roots of a flower. The tender and resplendent voices and harmonies of the choir create a beatific and joyful performance.

Gundega Šmite has long been one of the leading women composers in Latvia, and her contribution to this collection ‘Augstā dziesma’ (Song of Solomon) adroitly weaves together various voices and vocal melodies to create a striking and ardent work about a woman’s description of her lover.

In their relatively brief period of existence, the Riga Project Choir has confirmed themselves as one of Latvia’s premiere choirs. Though ostensibly an amateur choir, their technical and interpretive skills are enough to rival other professional choirs. Under the guidance of founder and artistic director Christopher Walsh Sinka, the choir has made it one of their main goals to raise awareness of modern choir compositions, especially by Latvian composers. Already Bloomed, with its wide diversity of compositions by women composers, is an exceptionally convincing debut recording – not only does it reveal the many different facets of Latvian choir music, but also the Riga Project Choir’s ascendance to being a leading Latvian choir.

For further information, please visit the Latvian Project Choir website and the Skani website.

Already Bloomed

Riga Project Choir

LMIC/SKANi 172, 2025

Track listing:

1. Ruta Paidere – Jau izplaukuši
2. Irīna Mihailovska – Viņa kreisā roka guļ zem manas galvas
3. Evija Skuķe – Naraudavu
4. Līva Blūma – Kā lilija starp ērkšķiem
5. Evija Skuķe – viņu
6. Lauma Kazaka – No saknes zieds uz augšu veras
7. Līva Blūma – Laika dziesma
8. Gundega Šmite – Augstā dziesma
9. Lauma Kazaka – Tu esi skaista
   
   
   

Folklorist, singer, kokle player Biruta Ozoliņa has, for decades, been one of the leading figures in Latvian (particularly Latgalian) folk music, and continues to explore and expand the boundaries of folk music. Over the years, she has released many albums of music explorations, including traditional recordings (1999’s Bolta eimu, a solo album featuring Ozoliņa on vocals and kokle – which remains one of the most affecting and moving Latvian folk music albums of all time), to new age explorations (2002’s Sirdsgrieži), jazz music (2007’s group and album of the same name – Patina), and electronic music (2013’s Sauli sēju with DJ Monsta).

Ozoliņa continues these explorations on 2025’s Daugavas rāgas – which combine Latvian folk songs with Indian raga music. As per the Kennedy center website, “Melodies in Indian music are classified by an ancient system of ragas. A raga (pronounced RAH-guh) is a collection of pitches, kind of like a scale or mode in Western music.” Ragas also deviate from the traditional western half-step/whole-step system, and use ‘microtones’ (intervals smaller than a half-step).

Combining the two musical styles (Latgalian folk and Indian raga) may not be so unusual – the Latvian language is a distant relative of the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, and Latvian is, of course, an Indo-European language. Ozoliņa is joined by an eclectic team of musicians – sitarist and vocalist Shri Subrata De, clarinetist Indriķis Veitners, Ernests Medenis on kokle, and percussionist Vigo Račevskis – playing traditional Indian instruments.

In the recording process, Ozoliņa and Subrata De also discovered a commonality between the two musical styles – according to an interview with Ozoliņa on Latvian Radio 3, the phrase modulation specifically used in the Latgalian singing of the Augšdaugava region of southern Latgale (which is actually closer to the Lithuanian singing style and is different than the traditional Latvian style) is very similar to Indian music.

The album is meditative, with an improvisational feel to it. Ozoliņa’s distinctive voice, at once fragile but confident, floats above the sounds of the sitar. Though the foundation of the recordings are Ozoliņa’s vocals and Subrata De’s sitar, the additional musicians add to the musical palette. Veitners’ clarinet provides an additional dimension to the musical offering of ‘Dzaguze’, as the clarinet melody goes from a somber lower register to soar ever higher at the end of the song.

The album also contains historical vocal recordings, for example on ‘Malvines rāga’, which also features Medenis’ kokle playing, and the sound of the sitar together with the kokle makes for a particularly dreamy and captivating effect. Račevskis’ percussion gives a mystical feel to ‘Pavasari, pavasari’, a song of welcoming the spring, while Ozoliņa and Shri Subrata De trade vocals, and the Indian and Latgalian language cascade to create a lovely linguistic mélange.

Biruta Ozoliņa continues her fascinating and engaging explorations of Latgalian folk music, and Daugavas rāgas is just the latest chapter in this journey. The ancient sounds of India and Latgale blend and flow together and envelop the listener in this mystical journey.

Daugavas rāgas

Biruta Ozoliņa

Upe tuviem un tāliem, 2025

Track listing

1. Reita raga
2. Dzaguze
3. Ceļa raga
4. Māras raga
5. Bruoli muni
6. Malvines raga
7. Pavasari, pavasari

Latvian flutist Evelīna Erliha won 1st place at the 2025 Little Mozarts competition for young musicians ages 3 to 14. Awarded 29 out of 30 points by the jury, Erliha also won the opportunity to perform at New York City’s Carnegie Hall at the end of May.

Erliha has been studying in New York City since 2024, and is currently studying at two music schools in New York City – the Kaufman Special Music School and the Mannes School of Music, one of only 15 applicants selected. She is also a musician in the Mannes Chamber Orchestra.

Evelīna Erliha oftens performs with her mother, distinguished Latvian pianist Dzintra Erliha.

Evelīna will be performing throughout the United States in the autumn of 2025, and she will be premiering a new work by composer Dace Aperāne – “Madrigal” – which the composer has dedicated to her.