RSU mixed choir “Rīga” achieves success in competition in Spain

Rīga Stradiņš University mixed choir “Rīga”, led by conductors Evita Taranda and Zane Zilberte has achieved success in the international choral festival “Canta al mar”, held in the city of Calella, Spain, gaining top positions in two categories of the competition. Conductor of the choir, Z. Zilberte was awarded a special prize from the jury for an outstanding performance – she obtained an INTERKULTUR Scholarship 2019 and was invited to an International Conductors’ Seminar in Germany.

The Canta al mar festival was held from 24 to 28 October, and RSU mixed choir “Rīga” competed in two categories – mixed choirs and folklore. Our choir was awarded with gold awards for both programmes and won first prize. The choir performed compositions by Jēkabs Graubiņš, Andrejs Jansons, Juris Vaivods, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Irīna Rebhūna, Jēkabs Jančevskis, Javier Busto and Donatas Zakaras. In addition to the competition programme, the choir also delighted spectators and performed Latvian folk songs and two compositions selected by the festival organisers at the opening event of the festival. The choir was also invited to take part in the church concert Music & Light, where pieces by Latvian composers Jānis Ķirsis Dzīle (Depth) and in particular Mūsu tēvs (Our Father) from the cantata Dievs, Tava zeme deg! (Lord, Thy Land is on Fire!) by Lūcija Garūta were most appreciated and enjoyed by the audience.

The annual competition Canta al mar is organised by international organisation INTERKULTUR. This year the event was held for the 7th time, gathering 42 choirs, representing 20 countries. They competed in 13 categories.

RSU mixed choir “Riga” had an opportunity to participate in the event, thanks to the financial support of Rīga Stradiņš University, the State Culture Capital Foundation and Rīga City Council.