Concerts

The vocal group PUTNI is one of the most unique units in the Latvian music scene - a pioneer of the modern vocal ensemble repertoire, which in long-term, non-commercial activity follows its own creative path, different from other musicians' associations. This year PUTNI celebrates its 30th anniversary. For an ensemble working as a freelancer, without regular, predictable financial and technical support, 30 years is a remarkable lifespan.

When creating programs, PUTNI always tries to make conceptually based choices, carefully selecting the repertoire and choosing its musical partners. Over 30 years, more than 40 singers have sung in the group, we have collaborated with many outstanding instrumentalists, and we regularly cooperate with Latvian and foreign composers. Under the leadership of conductor Antra Dreģe, more than 120 world premieres have been performed and seven albums released.

In our anniversary year, we are preparing new concert programs with freshly written compositions and also looking back in the ensemble’s history, posting some of our video recordings on our Facebook page. We will be happy to meet our listeners at our concerts all over Latvia!

Projects

HAMMOND organ restoration

Who knew that back then, in the previous century, Latvia has produced the world-famous HAMMOND organs? Three of them are still alive, although not in a working condition anymore. So we decided to take care of the situation and restore one of the instruments that is situated in the Liepāja Lutheran church. You can read the whole story in the JAZZin magazine, read more about the project and contribute to the restoration here:

Kultūras biedrība SPEKTRS

Reg. Nr. 40008050207

SWEDBANK AS, Riga

SWIFT Code / BIC: HABALV22

Account Nr.: LV24HABA0551009477455

Hildegard von Bingen: Reimagined

Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and practitioner during the High Middle Ages. She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony, as well as the most recorded in modern history. Since 2006, the vocal group PUTNI has produced a number of programs with music by Hildegard von Bingen and contemporary composers. Currently, we offer three concert programs inspired by St. Hildegard’s music.

Voice of Latvia

Since its founding in 1993, vocal group PUTNI have premiered over 100 new pieces by Latvian and foreign composers. The programming of the ensemble weaves together traditional Latvian music, contemporary works, music of classical and early music composers, and elements of jazz and rock music. Folk music is an essential part of Latvian culture, which inspires many contemporary composers – including Stanislav Yudin and Helena Winkelman (Switzerland), who have created two different glorious programs especially for PUTNI.