Boys' Voices Under the Vaults of Riga Castle

On Tuesday Guntis Ulmanis listened to the participants of the 3rd International Festival of Boys’ Choirs “Rigas Doms ’98”. A bowl painted with folk ornament and 12 spoons was presented to G. Ulmanis by the members of the boys’ choir from Nizhny Novgorod.

In the photo on the left: the choir’s conductor, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Lev Sivukhin.

Riga, 14 April. On Tuesday the country’s President Guntis Ulmanis listened to the participants of the 3rd International Festival of Boys’ Choirs “Rigas Doms ’98”. At a meeting in Riga Castle with representatives of all eight choirs that took part in the festival, G. Ulmanis expressed the wish that the voices of the festival’s participants be heard beyond Latvia and Europe: “Let them bear witness that here with us is a free independent state which has very many loyal, kind and ringing friends.” The country’s president stressed the importance of this event in the present situation: “The festival will demonstrate that we are capable of listening to the voices and music of other peoples, and not only our own, and of getting to know the cultures and histories of other peoples.”

The participants of all the choirs prepared short performances. In the White Hall a chorister from Tallinn performed the Italian “Santa Lucia”, guests from Luxembourg and Russia sang their folk songs, as did the boys of both Latvian choirs, the Riga Cathedral choir and the Jāzeps Mediņš music school. A beautiful gift, a bowl painted with folk ornament and 12 spoons, was presented to G. Ulmanis by the members of the boys’ choir from Nizhny Novgorod.

The choir’s conductor, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Lev Sivukhin, told Diena that the bowl (the Volga barge haulers once ate from such dishes) symbolises the friendship and unity between peoples that are so necessary now. The Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Latvia was also present at this meeting.

Newspaper “Diena”, 15 April 1998, Evita Prokopova