26th International Bach Chamber Music Festival | MUSICA RIGENSIS

Participants

Ensemble ARS ANTIQUA RIGA

Artistic Director Pēteris Vaickovskis

Program

Pauls Bucēns (Paulus Bucenus Philorodus, c. 1548–1586)

MUSICA RIGENSIS

The concert program includes all available vocal polyphony from the 16th century that was created on the territory of Latvia, reconstructed several decades ago and, very recently, reconstructed anew. Late Renaissance polyphony is a unique heritage that bears witness to the musical culture of the Livonian era. Its most important representatives were the cantor-composers who worked at Riga Cathedral School, including Pauls Bucēns (Paulus Bucenus Philorodus, c. 1548–1586), who left behind a rich legacy of masses and motets. Alongside Renaissance polyphony, the program will also feature Gregorian chant, which was one of the sources of inspiration for Bucēns’s polyphonic mastery.

Ars Antiqua Riga is an early music ensemble with a special focus on vocal polyphony and ensemble singing. Its core repertoire consists of vocal polyphony from the late Middle Ages to the early Baroque of Western Europe, as well as contemporary music that draws on the traditions of early music. An important part of the ensemble’s work is making music accessible outside Riga, with regular performances in Latvia’s regions.

In 2022, Ars Antiqua Riga released its debut album “Uģis Prauliņš. Mass and Interludes L’homme armé,” which was nominated for the Latvian record award Zelta mikrofons 2022 and the prestigious German recording award OPUS KLASSIK. The ensemble has also performed at international early music festivals outside Latvia.

In 2024, Ars Antiqua Riga, together with the Estonian ensemble Floridante and violinist Anthony Marini (USA/Finland) of the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, founded a new musical formation devoted to early music created in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Its first concert program, “Meder and Buxtehude,” was presented in concert series in Latvia and Estonia.

Pēteris Vaickovskis is the founder and artistic director of the early music ensemble Ars Antiqua Riga, as well as a conductor, singer, and instrumentalist. He earned a master’s degree in choral conducting at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, and furthered his knowledge of early music at the Amsterdam Conservatory and the Leipzig Bach Archive Vocal Polyphony Summer School. Pēteris is a musician with the Riga Sackbut Consort and, until the end of the 2026 season, was also a singer and choirmaster of the Latvian Radio Choir; since 2024, he has been collaborating with the Belgian vocal ensemble Vox Luminis. In the 2026/2027 season, first collaborations with Collegium Vocale Gent and Huelgas Ensemble are planned. Since 2025, he has been a lecturer at the Department of Musicology of the JVLMA Department of Musicology.