The 85th anniversary of composer Paul Dam will be celebrated with an online concert / Article

On June 30, at 7 pm, musicians – singer Ilze Grēvele-Skaraine, saxophonist Artis Sīmanis and organist Kristīne Adamaite and Ilona Birģele – have prepared an online concert program in honor of the anniversary of composer, teacher, organist and conductor Paul Dambis. The concert will feature both popular works, such as “Toccata alla fantasia” (1993) for organ, and music created until very recently. The premiere of “Passacaglia en trè concerti” (2021) for voice, saxophone and organ is expected as a special event of the evening, the representatives of Riga Dome informed.

The celebration of Paul Dambis’ anniversary at the organ is not accidental, the organizers noted. He himself has mastered the organ playing at Riga St. Esther Didrihsone, an organist of St. Paul’s Church, and from 1951 to 1952 worked as an organist and choir conductor at St. Anna Church Parish. But from 1993 to 1994, he was the music director of the city of Egebeck in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany – a time when several organ works were created.

He studied composition from 1957 to 1962 at the Latvian State Conservatory under Valentin Utkin. From 1960 to 1962, Dambis was the head of the music department of the Drama Theater, from 1964 to 1968 the sound director and composer of the TV film association “Telefilma Rīga”. For many years he has worked as a teacher in the composition department of the Latvian State Conservatory, as well as in the Latvian Academy of Culture.

The concert can be viewed free of charge at Riga Dome Cathedral “Youtube” channel. The live broadcast will be broadcast by LR3 “Klasika”.

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