Started in 2021, the music festival "Rimbenieks" organized by the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra will tour Southern Kurzeme regions once again this August, offering several exquisite musical events. A number concerts will be given in towns and villages of the region from 2 August to 18 August, gathering top class artists and passionate listeners and creating an unforgettable musical experience.
The content cornerstone at the “Rimbenieks” festival is chamber music, which is played by ensembles made up of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra musicians, engaging their like-minded fellows and closest stage friends.
Thanks to the support provided by the South Kurzeme Municipality Council, entrance to the "Rimbenieks" Festival concerts will be free of charge this year as well.
Traditionally, our journey will begin at the Kazdanga Community Centre, where on 2 August at 19:00 the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra will perform a concert in the spacious hall under the direction of the conductor Guntis Kuzma. The programme will feature “A Little Night Music” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Concerto grosso by Arturs Maskats with soloists – violinist Sandis Šteinbergs and cellist Ēriks Kiršfelds, as well as the Symphony No.6 (“Pastoral”) by Ludwig van Beethoven.
On 3 August at 19:00, a concert will be held in the Vērgale Manor palace hall, filling it with the sounds of flute, kokle and piano. Dancer Beatrise Anda Ozoliņa will join Agnija Ābrama, Līga Griķe and Madara Kalniņa on stage. On 4 August at 19:00 in Rucava Evangelical Lutheran church the Liepāja French horn quartet will perform together with percussionist Marta Kauliņa-Pelnēna. On 9 August at 19:00 the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms will be performed at the Vaiņode Community Centre by top Latvian musicians: clarinetist Guntis Kuzma, pianist Agnese Egliņa and cellist Klāvs Jankevics. On 10 August at 19:00 in the Virga Manor hall, the audience will be able to enjoy the hot-blooded compositions of Astor Piazzolla and other composers to the sound of string instruments and accordion.
On 11 August the festival will go on a mini-tour around churches in South Kurzeme, where 4 different concerts will be given in one day. At 14:00 the Liepāja French horn quartet will give a concert at Grieze Evangelical Lutheran Church, at 16:00 at Priekule Evangelical Lutheran Church Klāvs Jankevics will play Benjamin Britten's Suite for cello, at 17:30 at Vecpils St Lawrence Church the oboist Renāte Lodziņa will perform together with the organist Simona Sunepa, and at 19:00 at the Aizpute Christ the King church, a summer programme will be performed by the violinists Līga Baltābola and Jānis Baltābols and the cellist Leons Veldre.
On 15 August at 19:00, the festival will continue with a concert at Durbe Evangelical Lutheran church, where singer Anta Jankovska, harpist Dārta Tisenkopfa-Muselli, cello player Ivars Bezprozvanovs and flautist Reinis Lapa will come together in a lyrical programme. On 16 August at 19:00 at Nīca Evangelical Lutheran church the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra brass and percussion group musicians will perform under the direction of the conductor Guntis Kuzma, playing Henri Tomasi's “Liturgical Fanfares” and Rihards Dubra's opus “Magnolia” for the vibraphone played by Marta Kauliņa-Pelnēna. With the same ambitious concert programme, which also features the premiere of Vilnis Šmīdbergs’ new work "Towards the Light", the Festival will end on 18 August at 19:00 at Grobiņa Evangelical Lutheran church. There is one more concert left unmentioned, which will take place at the Cīrava Community Centre on 17 August at 19:00, where the Berči Quartet, clarinetist Alise Gavare and saxophonist Aigars Raumanis will perform.
The programme of the “Rimbenieks” Festival will be very diverse, and the audience will have the chance to meet in music with the Viennese classics and also get to know the music of modern Latvian composers, revealing new colours of sound to the audience and offering to immerse themselves in well-known melodies. The music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Astor Piazzolla, Claude Debussy and many other well-known composers will be played, while the Latvian authors will be represented by Pēteris Vasks, Vilnis Šmīdbergs, Imants Kalniņš, Līga Ančevska, Natālija Munda.
The entire festival program can be found here!
