Baldone 2006
December 18, 2022 at 4:29 pm
The Fourth International Festival-Competition of Chamber Ensembles for Young Performers “We Play Music With Friends” is over. This time we met in Baldone on 3th and 4th of June, 2006. We are grateful to the participants who delighted us with their artistic performance at this musical spring celebration.
The organizers – “We Play Music With Friends” Foundation, (established at the end of 2005), Jāzeps Mediņš Music School of Riga and Music School of Baldone – are thankful for financial support to the Ministry of Culture, the Culture Capital Foundation, as well as the Municipality of Riga District and the Municipality of Baldone.
This year 43 chamber ensembles and 60 teachers had applied for the enterprise from Vilnius, StPetersburg, Tartu, Utenas, Kiev, Baldone, Dobele, Liepaja, Tukums, the coastal towns of Vidzeme, Ķekava, Jaunpiebalga, Glūda, five music schools of Riga, the Cultural centre “Nellija”, Riga highschool Nr. 88 and “Kadanss” Music School.
The solemn opening ceremony at the Baldone’s Music School was marked by the ancient sounds of menuet. The competitors were sincerely welcomed by the Honorary Patron of the Festival-Competition Ingūna Rībena, the director of Jāzeps Mediņš Music School Valdis Lastovskis, the director of Music School of Baldone Dace Sloka and the artistic director of the Festival, the teacher Gunta Melbārde from Mediņš Music School.
On 3th of June after the tough hours of competition the children went to discover the most beautiful places of Baldone; they also visited the observatory of Baldone. But the teachers met the judges of the competition. It was very valuable to hear the analysis, formal advices and remarks, as well as grateful words about the children’s musical performances. The professor Gunta Sproģe and her colleagues expressed their gratitude for the competition’s professional development and the enthusiasm of its organizers. The composer Imants Mežaraups and his colleague Juta Bērziņa introduced other teachers with their experience at arranging the compositions for different types of chamber ensembles. At the end of the first day there was a silent and memorable moment at the church of Baldone which was followed by a little concert of chamber music.
Next morning the first concert of the Festival took place at the church of Baldone. This time competitors played the barocal and the classical music. The second concert of the Festival took place at the cinema house of Baldone. At the end of this concert the jury congratulated the winners of the competition. We are really thankful to Solvita Loka, the teacher of Music School of Baldone for her great energy and generous help.
Although it was a rainy evening, it was hard for everyone to say good-byes. The children sat next to the fire place, ate roasted sausages and the twist of bread and of course played music ...
We are still continuing to receive the reports from our colleagues in Latvija and other countries!
The Festival – Competition was filmed by Edmunds Mickus, and soon it will be possible to watch the most interesting moments of the Festival on DVD.
Next year on 5th and 6th of January we have intended to organize two-day masterclasses for children and their teachers and to invite pedagogues of chamber ensembles from Latvian Academy of Music and their foreign colleagues to take part in the workshop. Next year is also the fifth annivesary of the Festival. We are very happy about the invitation from the Music School of Dobele to organize the next Festival.
Looking forward for meeting you in Dobele, the capital city of lilac, on 1st – 3rd of June, 2007!