The Latvian Youth Choir BALSIS

Conductor Ints Teterovskis

The Missa a cappella Project

In the fall of 2010, BALSIS launched a commissioning and recording project called Missa a cappella.  Each year, a new CD will be recorded and produced, and launched as part of an annual Missa a cappella concert series and will feature new a cappella mass settings by well-known Latvian and international composers.  The first of these CD’s was released in December 2011 featuring Latvian composer Uģis Prauliņš’ Missa Rigensis and Lithuanian composer Vytautas Miškinis’ Missa Brevis Es-dur.

In December 2011 BALSIS presented the world premiere of Peter-Anthony’s Missa Liberationis in Riga, Latvia.  Peter-Anthony was delighted to be able to attend the premiere and to meet the memebers of the choir during rehearsals beforehand.  The recording is due to be released later this year and the musical score will be published through Musica Baltica in Latvia.  Along with meeting members of the choir and conductor Ints, Peter-Anthony was able to attend a press conference regarding the project, he led a seminar with Latvian composers about his work and found time to take in the sights and sounds of Riga during this festive time of year.

I was very taken with the soul of Riga, its history, beauty, pathos and mostly its people. I felt very welcomed there and strangely at home. I was also very grateful to Ints, who arranged for me to meet with so many Latvian musicians, took me to Jurmala on the Baltic Sea and took me on a late night tour of old Riga! – Peter-Anthony

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Photos from the Premiere performance week in Riga, Latvia – December 2011
St. Saviour’s Anglican Church