#conductor #sing
Recently, the concert of the quintet “Belcanto” delighted the audience at the Amata Culture House.
One of the five owners of beautiful voices is ULVIS KRIEVIņŠ. We talked with him about his path in music, singing in a quintet and future plans.
– “Belcanto” is a new collective. How did it come about?
– We have joined five friends. We all study conductors at the Alfred Kalniņas Cēsi Music Secondary School, I am in the third year. At some point we thought that we would like to try to sing together. At the beginning, we didn’t think that something like that would be formed – in the form of a quintet, but we have come to that. The concert at the Amata Culture House was our first, let’s see what happens next.
-How do you rate your first concert?
– I have to admit, in the rehearsal it might have seemed that it would be crazier, because after all – a new hall, a lot of listeners. However, the concert was great, we liked it a lot. The response of the audience was also encouraging.
-Why the first concert in Amata, Gikši?
– It is my native place, I grew up there, but you could also say that I am a native. I studied at Cēsi 1st primary school, where music is also very present. In the first grades, I studied at the Drabešu primary school, I was introduced to music by a very nice teacher, Ina Aizgale. At the end of the 8th grade, I realized that I want to enter a music high school.
At that time, it was not yet clear which specialty to choose. However, I knew that I liked working in a team, I liked conducting, so I decided to study as a conductor. My cousin used to learn it, my grandmother sang in an ensemble when she was young, so a character related to music pops up in our family from time to time. Right now, I want to express a big thank you to teacher Iveta Lapiņa for her responsiveness, great work and encouragement in moments when it is really needed.
-What plans for the future? Is it related to music?
-Definitely. Music is a career point that I definitely want to move towards. Now I am looking at Jāzeps Vītolas Academy of Music of Latvia. Of course, if I see an interesting program at a foreign university and have the opportunity to study there, I will definitely try.
However, conducting studies in Latvia are at a fairly high level. In addition, the profession is in demand, there is a shortage of conductors, they are always needed. As for the quintet, I think we will move towards growth together, we are looking for all the opportunities where we can perform in order to improve and gain experience.
-How difficult is it to find places and people who welcome you?
– It is a great pleasure to cooperate with the Amata House of Culture, which is quite small, but close to my heart – I grew up with it. And that’s why I knew that they would support us and give us the opportunity to perform. Now there is a kind of quiet period, we are not planning concerts, because the end of the school year is approaching, there will be tests.
– Why exactly a quintet – not a quartet or a trio?
– Because we are a company of five friends – so simple! Once we really sat down and wondered what it would be like to have our own band. We came to the point that we will form a quintet – no more, no less soloists. We are very good friends, all five of us conduct, and therefore the collective is also very cohesive, our train of thought is very similar. Of course, we can’t do without a little disagreement when it comes to choosing songs, but if someone objects or makes a complaint, the rest of us don’t take offense. We understand that everyone has their own professional range of skills – we try to use it to our advantage, not to compete or argue.
There are three girls in the quintet – Rūta Gičeviča, Džinija Ruiren, Undine Jenča – and two guys – me and Jānis Spenner. We all sing at our own pitch, so it’s very easy to divide the chants – there are no arguments about that. Jānis will always sing the bottom, I will sing the boy’s top and Ruta the women’s top, but Undine and Ginny sing the middle voice. Of course, we make sure that the pieces are suitable for everyone, so that it is not difficult for someone to sing their part.
-What about the repertoire?
– Currently, we mainly choose Latvian compositions. More modern, of course, also something from the repertoire of the young people’s Song Festival. The goal is to go to foreign repertoire, maybe more classical and less heard here.
-What kind of music do you prefer?
– I really like classical music. If I need inspiration, I listen to choral music, mostly Latvian compositions, sometimes I also listen to some foreign ones. I very often choose the national academic choir “Latvija”. I get a lot of inspiration. But high-level choral music comes from the USA and England – it happens to find very excellent pearls.
-What about the Song Festival? Have you participated?
– Yes, I participated last year. This was the first Song Festival in which I sang. I used to dance. This year I combined both singing and dancing and at times I wondered how I did it! Festival of songs – it is such a very magical feeling, such a great unity, a sense of community, when such a large number of people sing one song! All the concerts were so emotionally saturated that after a week in Riga, I felt positively charged for the rest of the summer.
-What do you think, are classical and choral music still close to the young generation? However, it has already become a certain rarity in the youth society.
– It’s hard to say. It seems that the interest in choral music or classical music is less noticeable than in other music genres. There may be fewer young people in Cēsis who are interested in conducting and choral music, but I know that there are many young people in Riga who are interested in studying in this field. Because I cannot claim that we – those who care about choral music and classical music – are quite a rarity.
-You are studying in the third year at the Alfreda Kalniņa Cēsi Music Secondary School. How do different talents meet in it?
– We are one big family. The teachers are very responsive, accommodating, I haven’t had any negative experiences. The collective, the feeling of home that overwhelms you when you enter the school premises, all this will surely create charming memories of this time sometime in the future. I wouldn’t trade my school for any other.
– Do you have any other passions besides music?
– I like nature. My mom and I have a new holiday season passion – walking nature trails. I like walking, cycling – being in nature in any way.
