From October 10 to 17, the 10th International Organ Music Festival “ORGANismi” will take place at The Embassy of Latgale GORS – a grand and significant event in Latvia’s music scene, inviting listeners to experience several premieres and to meet many outstanding musicians, ensembles, and bright personalities — the festival’s artistic director Iveta Apkalna, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Andris Poga, actor Kaspars Znotiņš, composer Raimonds Tiguls, and others.
“The ORGAN Music Festival ORGANismi has, over these ten years, become a symbol of recognition, top quality, and creativity for The Embassy of Latgale GORS. Thanks to the initiative of its artistic director Iveta Apkalna, the festival has welcomed not only Latvia’s leading orchestras, conductors, soloists, directors, and actors but also many foreign musicians less known to Latvian audiences. Over these ten festival years, we have experienced numerous premieres and first performances; audiences have been delighted by unusual combinations of the organ with other instruments, various genres, and styles. The organ has not only been heard solo or together with an orchestra but also with piano, accordion, Hammond organ, contemporary dance, ballet, and theatre. A constant value of each festival is the concert production created by Iveta Apkalna together with the singing and music-making children and youth of Latgale, which has inspired many young artists to continue their musical studies. Visitors of this anniversary festival are also invited to let themselves be swept away on a journey that will begin in a truly extraordinary way — at the Opening Night Concert. At an unusual time and in an unusual place. The title of the festival’s opening piece — Arvo Pärt’s “Pari intervallo” (At a Constant Distance) — will serve as the festival’s motto: a distance that separates us can at the same time be a force of attraction and a sign of infinity that unites us all,” says Ilona Rupaine, Head of the Artistic and Events Department of the concert hall.
On October 10, at the Opening Night Concert, organist Iveta Apkalna and actor Kaspars Znotiņš will meet in the program “APKALNA.FAUSTS.ZNOTIŅŠ.”, where readings from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s immortal tragedy “Faust” will merge with compositions by Petr Eben, Franz Liszt, Johann Sebastian Bach, and others. The unusual scenography and light score will take listeners into a world of mysticism, philosophy, and eternal, unanswered questions.
On October 11, the central event of the festival will take place on the Grand Hall stage of The Embassy of Latgale GORS, featuring the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Iveta Apkalna, and conductor Andris Poga. The program includes the Latvian premiere of the large-scale work “Sinfonia concertante for Organ and Orchestra” by contemporary Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. This piece had its world premiere in January 2023 at the Katowice concert hall in Poland, conducted by the composer himself, with Iveta Apkalna performing the solo part. The concert program will also feature Richard Strauss’s symphonic poem “Death and Transfiguration” and a new organ and symphony orchestra work by the beloved Latvian composer Raimonds Tiguls.
On October 12, festival guests will have the opportunity not only to watch the documentary “Organ by Night”, produced by Latvian Television, the international cultural channel ARTE, and German public broadcaster NDR, but also to meet the film’s central figure Iveta Apkalna and members of the creative team. The film’s director is Agita Cāne-Ķīle, scriptwriter – Zane Ozoliņa, editor – Māris Martušs, cinematographer – Edgars Bite, producer – Luīze Nagle, and LSM cultural editor – Ieva Rozentāle.
As is tradition, the festival will also include a musical stage production for younger music enthusiasts and families. The 10th festival “ORGANismi” will conclude on October 17 with a children’s concert-performance featuring Iveta Apkalna and the students and teachers of the J. Ivanovs Rēzekne Music School (MIKC LMMV).
About the festival:
The International Organ Music Festival “ORGANismi” in Rēzekne first took place in October 2015, showcasing the diversity and possibilities of the organ as a concert instrument. The festival’s artistic director is organist Iveta Apkalna, born in Rēzekne, who is considered one of the world’s leading soloists-instrumentalists. The festival was born from the acquisition of digital organs “Johannus Eclessia” in 2014, which allowed The Embassy of Latgale GORS to become the first concert hall in Latvia capable of offering a broader musical repertoire and fostering new forms of collaboration and sound. Playing with the word “organ” (from Greek: organ) and “organisms,” the organizers highlight the unexplored possibilities of blending the organ with other arts, eras, and styles.
The 10th International Organ Music Festival “ORGANismi” is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation.
Translated using AI, if you spot any mistakes in the translation feel free to write us an e-mail (gors.vestis [at] rezekne.lv) highlighting the mistake.
