We are a professional a cappella group from Latvia, the land that sings. Our musical journey began in 2009, and for the first 11 years, we performed as a female a cappella group. In 2020 the wonderful bass Jānis Strazdiņš joined the group, turning us into a mixed a cappella ensemble. The music we perform brings together our cultural heritage — Latvian folksongs — and the world-famous Latvian choral sound, which we respectfully mix together with the influence of contemporary a cappella and world music. We all like to compose and arrange music for our voices, but the group's leader Laura Jēkabsone has written most of our repertoire. Since 2009, we have performed in more than 35 countries worldwide with many programs, both acoustic and amplified. We have released nine studio albums, and number ten is on the way.
Sounds of Latvian Nature, our exceptional music album, is an earbook which won the Annual Latvian Recording award in 2014. Besides concerts, we love to share our experience in a cappella workshops, which is why we founded our own annual festival, the Latvian Voices A Cappella Festival in Valmiera.
Achievements
• vokal.total.2011 Graz, Austria (Ward Swingle Award and Audience Favorite Award)
• A cappella 2012 Leipzig, Germany (prizewinners)
• World Choir Games Cincinnati 2012 USA (Champions)
• 44th Tolosa Choral Contest 2012 Basque Country, Spain (2nd place in folk music and 3rd place in polyphonic music)
• Zelta Mikrofons 2014 Latvia (best vocal and choral music album for the earbook Sounds of Latvian Nature)
• Tampereen Sävel Tampere Vocal Music Festival, Finland (2nd place)
International collaborations
The King's Singers, The Swingles (UK), Viva Voce and Rolf Zuckowski (Germany), Katarina Henryson (Sweden), Morten Vinther (Denmark), Andrew Kesler (Canada), Estonian Voices (Estonia) and many more.
Collaborations in Latvia
Ēriks Ešenvalds, Rihards Zaļupe, Laima Jansone, Normunds Šnē, DaGamba, Dainis Tenis, Kaspars Zemītis, Renārs Kaupers, Intars Busulis, Xylem Trio, DJ Rudd, Maska and Jānis Ozols, and many more.
Albums
Waving World Wide (2010); 7th Heaven (2010); Tā Kā Taka (2011); Sounds of Latvian Nature (2014); Zeit der Wunder (2014); Pāri robežām (2015); Mazie skumjie ziemas svētki (2016); Sounds of Latvian Nature 2nd edition (2017); Sudrabs (2018); Atzīšanās (2023)
Singles and EPs
Ziema (2017); In Time of Silver Rain (2018); Silent Night (2018); EP Live from Riga (2018); Melanholiskais valsis (2019); Cauri vasarām (2020); Latvietes mīts (2020); Vaivari vai nevari (2021); Buramdziesmiņa (2021)
Meet the team of Latvian Voices
Andris Ūze
Sound director
Founding members of Latvian Voices
Andra Zvejniece (née Blumberga) - active from 2009 to 2017 / Alto
Karīna Kaminska - active from 2009 to 2014 / Soprano
Nora Kalniņa (née Vītiņa) - active from 2009 to 2017 / Soprano
Elīna Ose (née Šmukste)- active from 2009 to 2022
Marta Ozola (née Staķe)- active from to 2009 to 2011 / Alto
Zane Stafecka current member of the group
Laura Jēkabsone current member of the group
Former singers
Dita Belicka- active from 2016 to 2022/ Alto
Laura Leontjeva - active from 2011 to 2020 / Alto
Marta Lortkipanidze - active from 2016 to 2019 / Alto (almost baritone)
Laura Polence - active from 2012 to 2015 / Alto
There is a story behind every beginning. Here is ours.
Most of us had met long before Latvian Voices, but the Latvian Academy of Music in Riga was the starting point for our group. Andra received a request from a former music teacher in her hometown of Kuldīga that an organization in Hamburg wassearching for seven young female singers who would participate in the annual Märchen im Michel charity concert as Lucias. For those unaware, St. Lucia's Day, or the festival of lights, is celebrated on December 13th. Traditionally, Lucia wears a crown of candles on her head. Each of her handmaidens also carries a candle, and of course sings. Andra gathered seven singers; the majority, herself included, were students in the music academy, so they were used to these one-time projects. After our first performance as Lucias in St. Michael’s church in Hamburg, we were invited to participate in festivals and competitions. Soon, we realized that this was not just a project but something more serious; after all, we truly enjoyed singing together. Long story short, that's how Latvian Voices was born, shortly before Christmas in 2009.
