Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds will spend two years beginning in October perfecting his craft as a “fellow commoner” at the University of Cambridge’s Trinity College in Great Britain.

Trinity announced the appointment on March 25, noting that the 34-year-old Ešenvalds is the latest in a series of artists who for 30 years have been supported by the college’s Fellow Commoners in Creative Arts program. Each artist spends two years in residence at Cambridge.

Composers chosen by Trinity in years past include Nicholas Maw, Judith Weir, Thomas Adès, Deirdre Gribbin, Richard Causton and Tarik O’Regan.

Ešenvalds, born in 1977 in Priekule, is “the next big thing in musical mysticism,” according to critic Richard Morrison of The Times of London.

Ešenvalds received his bachelor’s degree in 2002 and his master’s in composition in 2004 from the Latvian Academy of Music, where he studied under Selga Mence.

A recipient of numerous scholarships and winner of various awards, Ešenvalds is known for compositions such as “Iespadi Sāremā” and “Légende de la femme emmurée.” His compositions have appeared on more than a dozen recordings.

For more on Ēsenvalds, visit his website, www.eriksesenvalds.com.