“Usually you don’t let me say what you really think.”

“Usually you don’t let me say what you really think.”

After one of the selected songs, Siliņa breaks down in tears, to which the presenter Jānis Šipkēvics points out that we are living people – we feel, we are in pain, and we know very well that there are things on our shoulders that depend only on us. The Prime Minister agrees that it is … Read more

Latvian Musician Balanas on Missing Home, Trusting People, and Future Orchestral Plans

Latvian Musician Balanas on Missing Home, Trusting People, and Future Orchestral Plans

When asked about what he misses the most when he is away from home, Balanas tells the presenter Ines Vaikule: “It’s hard to say. I think it’s spaciousness and people’s openness.” He adds: “Very honest people. People really say what they think, and that’s why they’re open, I think.” Balanas, who lives in London and … Read more

Latvian Musician Balanas Misses the Spaciousness and Openness of Home

Latvian Musician Balanas Misses the Spaciousness and Openness of Home

When asked about what he misses the most when he is away from home, Balanas tells the presenter Ines Vaikule: “It’s hard to say. I think it’s spaciousness and people’s openness.” He adds: “Very honest people. People really say what they think, and that’s why they’re open, I think.” Balanas, who lives in London and … Read more

“World Music and Folk Music Helped Me to Travel and Share My Love for Music” – Būu’s Story

“World Music and Folk Music Helped Me to Travel and Share My Love for Music” – Būu’s Story

Būu tells host Jānis Šipkēvics that currently she travels less around the world, but she traveled a lot even before the time of covid: “Before that, I traveled and traveled a lot, and it was world music and folk music that helped me to do that, because of course I was this one – a … Read more

Danilevich’s Poetry Journey: From Norway to Nestástot

Danilevich’s Poetry Journey: From Norway to Nestástot

As Danilevich tells host Inese Vaikule, in the 60th anniversary original concerts “Manas tautas deja” there is a poem written by him in the opening part, but the most in the show “Nestastot” – about 20. Asked about when he started to write poetry in the first place, the choreographer remembers an old episode : … Read more

Artistic Director Role and Leadership in Latvian Theaters: Insights from Senkov

Artistic Director Role and Leadership in Latvian Theaters: Insights from Senkov

“It wasn’t even a disagreement,” Senkov clarifies to host Ines Vaikule. For us, I think, that management model did not match.” He adds that there are very few artistic directors left in theaters in Latvia, and the very word “artistic director” presupposes leadership. “If the manager is not given any opportunities to lead or to … Read more

Ints Teterovskis: Evaluating Latvian National Cultural Center’s Holiday Success and Planning for the Future

Ints Teterovskis: Evaluating Latvian National Cultural Center’s Holiday Success and Planning for the Future

Teterovskis says that he invites the National Cultural Center of Latvia and the Ministry of Culture to create an evaluation conference together. “Both the topics and the content, so that it really is such a meaningful conversation about what may or may not have succeeded during the holiday, what should be done better in the … Read more

The Road to Glastonbury: Tautumeitas’ Journey and Unforgettable Experience

The Road to Glastonbury: Tautumeitas’ Journey and Unforgettable Experience

Rancāne tells host Jānis Šipkēvics that the road to the festival has begun in the show case in Amsterdam, where “Tautumeitas” performed. There they were noticed by one of the managers of Glastonbury’s many stages. “He came to our performance, he saw, he liked what he saw, and a couple of weeks later he also … Read more

“Why Do Songs and Art from Your Teenage Years Stick with You? Chemical Elements in Our Bodies Hold the Key”

“I have to say that I’ve been digging into this question – why does it always feel like songs or art or anything that’s in your teenage years, why does it stay with you for the rest of your life and feel like it’s the best thing ever? It has a lot to do with … Read more