Tautu, kura dzied, nevar nedzirdēt

This is a story about 'Latvia' and Latvians who can't help but sing.

You can change your shoes and scarf,

But you can shift your soul

I am Latvian and I always will be

Without the questions why, where and how….

With these strong words by Guntars Račs, the story of our new joint project began.

After a successful project together with the Parisian Latvian choir 'Latve' in 2019, we knew that we definitely wanted to continue our cooperation. The question was - in what format and would we do it alone or reach out to friends. 

During the pandemic choir LVkorisNL took a pause for more than a year and a half. Although we did not come together and were forced to freeze our plans, we did not stop dreaming about the future.

Račs' strong four-line poem, which we adapted as our choir slogan, demanded a melody, a sound, something more...

That's why I, Gunita Kronberga, project manager and conductor of LVkorisNL, approached poet, composer, Latvian musician Guntars Račs to help to find the right sound for his words. And he understood what we are dreaming about and what we need as a choir. 

Guntars took the idea and approached Ainārs Virga to write the music for the new song. And a new song 'Latvietis' was created. It turned out that we were not the only ones who needed such a pure dose of "Latvianness" these days. Ainārs Virga and other guys from band "Līvi"  recorded and released the song "Latvietis", and it became a national hit. It turned out that we were not the only ones who needed this elixir for the soul to help people get up after a "long illness", recover and start living again.

For us, this new song turned out to be a strong cornerstone for new ideas. We realised that the will to act didn't disappeare anywhere, but was only stifled due to the circumstances that had arisen in the world, and now it is breaking out with a double force.

We would not be able to dress our amateur choral music skills in a rock/pop jacket on our own. That's why we called auxiliary forces from Latvia and looked for people willing to work in our group of friends as well. Ināra Braže, the conductor of the Paris Choir Latve, and Gita Pāvila, the leader of the Latvian Choir in Brussels, agreed to participate in the new adventure with me and prepare their singers for the program. In the hours-long online conversations, the idea got substance and a concrete structure for three concerts in the Netherlands, Belgium and France has been created. 

We reached out to the Latvian legendary singer IGO (Rodrigo Fomins)  and he was excited to participate and co-create this amazing program with us. In a short space of time, our creative group was joined by composer Jānis Strazds and Igo's accompanying ensemble of instrumentalists, as well as director Maija Kalniņa. 

From our side we are keen to bring into light - Valerija Satibaldieva, a lyric soprano currently studying at the Rotterdam Conservatory. In Parisian contacts, we found the cobbler Dace Gaigala and the talented sound and light director Michael Hugo.

However, the fundamental part of this of course are our choir singers, who have agreed to learn and sing to please European public and enjoy themselves. 

We get a lot of satisfaction from the preparation process and the staging of the songs. This process takes place individually for each choir in their home country. Although the technical possibilities allow us to follow each other's persistent work, the need for rehearsing together cannot be ignored, and that is why we have planned a choir camp in Latvia in the month of August. 

The final result will definitely be what we will gladly share in our joint concerts in November 2022 and which will make us: Latvian hearts scattered around the world, feel the power of togetherness and belonging to Latvia... without the questions why, where and how.

Sincerely yours, 

Gunita Kronberga