An American Jazz Evening. Big Band Composition Competition Final with Jiří Kotača

"An American Jazz Evening" at Spīķeri Concert Hall is a concert series by the Latvian Radio Big Band, focusing on the birthplace of jazz, the USA, and celebrating the legends of jazz, especially big band music.

The award-winning young Czech composer and trumpeter Jiří Kotača founded the big band “Cotatcha Orchestra” (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria) ten years ago with the vision of performing unusual and original big band music. From works by legendary world-famous composers (Igor Stravinsky, Gil Evans, etc.) to contemporary Czech big band pieces and collaborations with outstanding foreign guests such as Ilya Rejngouds, Mars Vilaseca, Mirna Bogdanović, and Daniel Kača. Alongside the works of the finalists of the Latvian Radio Big Band and Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music Big Band Composition Competition, Jiří Kotača, together with the Latvian Radio Big Band, will perform his own original works for the audience, highlighting the current trends in modern big band composition.