On April 12 and 13, the annual spring festival "April of Pēteris Vasks’ Music" will take place at the Cēsis Concert Hall. Saturday’s program features world-renowned violinist Gidon Kremer and the chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica in a moving performance titled "Viatore", where alongside works by Pēteris Vasks, music by Bach, Britten, Kancheli, and Pärt will be performed. On Sunday, in opera singer Maija Kovaļevska’s solo concert, gems of Latvian vocal classics and music by Pēteris Vasks will shine, including the Latvian premiere of the chamber cantata "Latvia". Additionally, there will be pre-concert talks and the opening of the art exhibition “The Gift of Existence” by Latvian painter Biruta Delle.

Gidon Kremer’s repertoire is exceptionally vast — it includes nearly all Classical and Romantic violin works, as well as contemporary music. The outstanding violinist has premiered works by many composers, a large number of which have been written specifically for him. Among them are two of Pēteris Vasks’ most famous pieces — the violin concerto "Distant Light" and the Meditation for violin and string orchestra "Lonely Angel."

Although the two masters share a long creative relationship, this will be Gidon Kremer’s first time performing at the “April of Pēteris Vasks’ Music” festival.

At the festival’s opening concert on Saturday, April 12, at 7:00 PM, Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica will perform music by Pēteris Vasks and other like-minded composers, with a special focus on the talent of Arvo Pärt, who celebrates his 90th birthday this year.

Latvia and Estonia were once called brotherly nations, and the creative output of the greats Pēteris Vasks and Arvo Pärt has flourished just as fraternally. Their music has become a recognizable symbol of their countries and a cornerstone of the repertoire of both Gidon Kremer and later Kremerata Baltica. By regularly performing these masterpieces, audiences around the world have come to know and love them.

We will hear Pēteris Vasks’ "Viatore" – a dedication to Arvo Pärt, and the first movement of the Second Cello Concerto "Presence", Arvo Pärt’s "Fratres" and a tribute to Benjamin Britten, Giya Kancheli’s "Silent Prayer", and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins.

On Sunday, April 13, at 5:00 PM, in the chamber music program of the festival, the world-renowned Latvian opera soloist Maija Kovaļevska will perform a concert featuring the Latvian premiere of Pēteris Vasks’ chamber cantata "Latvia", which was first premiered in 1987 at the Warsaw Spring Festival. Also on the program: his song cycle "Love Songs" and arrangements of folk songs. Alongside these, Latvian vocal music gems such as Jāzeps Vītols’ “At Your High White Window” and “Close Your Eyes,” Jānis Mediņš’ “There is an Evening,” and Lūcija Garūta’s “Moon Boat” will be performed.

The concert will also feature pianist Agnese Egliņa, flutist Dita Krenberga, cellist Kristers Šīmanis, and percussionist Guntars Freibergs.

Before this concert, at 3:30 PM, another special event will take place — the opening of the exhibition “The Gift of Existence” showcasing the works of the recently deceased, highly acclaimed, and beloved Latvian artist Biruta Delle (1944–2025). Biruta Delle was a painter whose life and essence were defined by her selfless devotion to painting over more than sixty years. She always maintained her unique and inimitable style, painting from the heart rather than with rational thought.

Visitors to the Cēsis Concert Hall will have a unique opportunity to view a brilliant selection of paintings from various periods of the artist’s creative life — works that are not widely known and have found a respectful home in the private collection of Helmuts Štrauhs.