OREANDA-NEWS. On 24 July 2008 was announced, that the youth choir Kamer is heading off to the 8th World Symposium on Choral Music, which is taking place this month in the Danish capital city of Copenhagen. This will be the first time that Kamer will perform songs from its latest project, “Sun Songs of the World” outside of Latvia.

The forum is the central event of the World Federation of Choral Music, and this year it is being organised by Choral Denmark – an association of choirs in that country. This is the eighth time that the forum is being organised.

The event will involve both master classes and concerts, and the global federation has invited 29 of the world’s best choirs to take part. Kamer will perform two solo concerts on July 24 and 25 with the “Sun Songs of the World” repertoire. Also, Kamer, along with a youth choir from Indonesia, have been selected to perform at the concluding ceremony of the symposium, which will take place at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen on July 26. The concert will be broadcast by Danish and international music channels. Present will be 2,000 choral music composers, conductors and experts from all around the world.

In parallel to the concerts, the forum will also offer a series of other choir-related events – exhibitions, lectures, as well as meetings at which there will be opportunities to exchange experiences.

“I am delighted that the ‘Sun Songs of the World’ project will now resound beyond Latvia’s borders. The performance in Copenhagen will be a delightful beginning for the international presentation of this repertoire, and it will make it possible for Latvia’s talented musicians to shape and polish our country’s image at the international level,” says Juris Gulbis, board chairman of Lattelecom, which is a leading sponsor of the choir.

The premiere of “Sun Songs of the World” was performed on July 3 and 4 in the Great Hall of the University of Latvia. Composers from different continents who contributed music to the repertoire were on hand – 17 composers from 16 countries. All of them had composed special works about the subject of the sun for Kamer. This voluminous and conceptual project was put together thanks to the choir’s supporters – the ongoing partner Lattelecom, which donated LVL 70,000 for the project, as well as the Culture Ministry and the Riga City Council.

The youth choir Kamer was established in 1990 at the Riga No. 1 Gymnasium and at the initiative of its conductor, Maris Sirmais. The choir continues to be centred at that school. With 70 performers, Kamer is known as one of the most brilliant choirs not only in Latvia, but in all of Europe.

Lattelecom has worked with Kamer since 2005. The company has provided support to several outstanding projects that have attracted international renown. These have creatively enriched cultural life in Latvia and beyond, making it much more colourful.