Eurovision Choir Of The Year ~ Latvia
In a little over a days time. This Saturday 22nd July, the very first ever Eurovision Choir Of The Year will Take Place in Riga Latvia. It will be held in the Arena Riga and will see nine countries from Europe compete to see who will be crowned Europe's best. Over the next two days Eurovoxx will give you all the details of the artists. The 9 choirs are given six minutes to perform as many songs as they wish. The seventh country to be premiered is the home nation Latvia. LTV will be Latvia's national broadcaster. Eva Ikstena and Eric Whitacre will be the presenters.
Who Are Latvia's Choir?
The choir representing Latvia will be Spīgo. Latvia along with several other nations are certainly going for girl power this year, as it is yet another choir that is female only. The choir itself was founded in 1977,and is the girl’s choir of Jelgava’s 4th secondary school in Latvia. Līga Celma-Kursiete will be their conductor, and he has been their artistic director since 2004. Only two countries Latvia and Wales (premiered later) held a national selection to chose who would have the honour of representing their country, and Spīgo won this honour on the 29th April 2017. The choir has participated in and won international choir competitions in Torrevieja, Tampere, Vienna, Venice, Cracow, Olomouc, Riga World Choir Games. They have also won many home competitions for many years. The success of this choir, and the home advantage will mean that this is the one to beat.
What Will They Sing?
Grezna saule debesīs Es čigāna meita biju
Who Is the Conductor?
Līga Celma-Kursiete is their conductor, and one of the only female ones of the competition. She was awarded her BA degree in music pedagogy in 2000. In 2007 she completed her MA degree in composition at the Latvian Academy of music. She has produced several compositions, with some of them being sung by prominent Latvian choirs such as "The State Choir of Latvia". She has been with Spīgo for 13 years, and has been very successful with them winning many awards.
How Will The Winner Be Chosen?
Unlike Eurovision there will be no tele voting, and no 'douze point', instead a winner will be chosen by a professional and impartial jury. The jury will consist of Latvia's Elina Garanca (a mezz- soprano), Switzerland's Nicolas Fink (a conductor), and finally United Kingdoms John Rutter (composer).
What Are The Rules?
The choirs have up to six minutes to perform one or more songs in the time allocated, and they can use any genre of music to sing. However they, “should in part reflect national or regional character in some way”.
Eurovoxx would like to wish Latvia all the best this Saturday. Check them singing in the video below.
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