Kokle Ensemble Cantata COCKTAIL / Latvian Pop Music Program

On October 31 at 5: 00 PM, AVE SOL Concert Hall will host a musical adventure for listeners - a new program unusual for a kokle ensemble - the golden classics of Latvian popular music and contemporary compositions.

Such a repertoire is relatively uncommon in the practice of Latvian kokle ensembles, because the instrument’s sound is traditionally associated with academic or ethnographic music. However, the kokle ensemble “Cantata” - Līga Griķe, Dārta Zelma Gailīte, Katrīna Anna Skrastiņa, Sabīne Treiguta - surprises audiences in almost every program, continually breaking stereotypes and demonstrating both the boundless musical possibilities of this ancient instrument and its rich palette of timbres. Once again, they will let the kokle step outside its usual frame and, meeting pop music and rock music, reveal another side of the instrument - energetic, virtuosic, modernly dynamic, and surprisingly versatile.

The concert’s musical backbone is formed by the kokle ensemble “Cantata” under the direction of Anda Eglīte, while the kokle sound will be complemented by a bright and varied team of musicians - young talent Mariuss Grencis, vocalist Elīna Krastiņa, guitarist Miks Akots, and percussionist Uģis Upenieks. Well-known works by celebrated Latvian composers, already part of our shared musical memory, will gain new colors, rhythmic accents, and unexpected sonic turns - specially arranged for kokle ensemble and accompanying band by Pauls Ādamsons, Aigars Raumanis, and Andis Klučnieks, as well as by the musicians taking part in the concert.

The program “Cocktail” could be described as a distinctive bridge between musical eras, inviting listeners to hear the kokle as a fully-fledged, flexible, and contemporary musical instrument.

The concert’s dramatic arc will be woven into a unified narrative by Raitis Zapackis, whose storytelling will be about not only the works themselves, but also the time in which they were created, their authors, their moods, and the signs of the era.