RSU Mixed Choir Will Give Advent Concert at the Riga Cathedral

The programme includes the monumental work for choir and organ “Laudate Dominum” by Pēteris Vasks, as well as several works by Ēriks Ešenvalds, including two premieres in Latvia – “The Cloud” and “A Soldier’s Mother’s Lullaby”. For the first time in Latvia, the suite for mixed choir “Vita” by the Georgian composer Vakhtang Kakhidze will also be performed. This piece which had its world premiere earlier this year performed by the Georgian State Choir.

Georgian composer and conductor Vakhtang Kakhidze (b. 1959), has been the principal conductor of the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra since 1993. He studied composition at the Moscow State Conservatory and learned conducting under the guidance of his father, the world-renowned Georgian conductor Jansug Kakhidze. In 2002 he became the artistic director of the J. Kakhidze Tbilisi Music and Culture Centre. He also directs the Tbilisi Autumn International Music Festival, which has featured many famous musicians from all over the world. The composer works in a variety of musical genres: he has created vocal symphonic music, compositions for choir, music for 20 films and 50 theatre productions, jazz compositions, and even pop songs. His compositions have been performed by such prestigious artists as Gidons Krēmers, Kremerata Baltica, Yuri Bashmet, and many others. In 2000 he received a Georgian State award – the Order of Honour, and in 2010 – the Shota Rustaveli Award, Georgia’s highest award in arts.

Tickets for the concert are available via Biļešu paradīze (www.bilesuparadize.lv) as well as at the Riga Cathedral box office at 6 Herdera laukums.

The concert is supported by Rīga Stradiņš University.