Jānis Liepiņš (born August 7, 1988 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

) is a Latvian conductor. Since 2014 he has been the conductor at the Latvian National Opera and Ballet (LNO). For the LNO, he has conducted productions of ''

Il trovatore ''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...

'' (2014), ''

Le Villi ''Le Villi'' (''The Willis'' or ''The Fairies'') is an opera–ballet in two acts (originally one) composed by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, based on the short story "Les Willis" by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr. Karr' ...

'' and ''

Gianni Schicchi () is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. The work is the third and final part of Puccin ...

'' (2015), ''

Eugene Onegin ''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Евгений Оне́гин, ромáн в стихáх, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn, r=Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh) is a novel in verse written by Ale ...

'' (2016), ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' (2014), '' Scheherazade And Her Tales'' (2016), and ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was staged especiall ...

'' (2012), and was both the conductor and musical director for the ballet ''

Raymonda ''Raymonda'' (russian: Раймонда) is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa to music by Alexander Glazunov, his Opus 57. It was first presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsky ...

'' (2015) and operetta ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original ...

'' (2015). He has been the artistic director and chief conductor of the youth choir Kamēr... since 2012, which he joined as assistant conductor in 2006. With the leadership of Liepiņš, Kamēr... was named the champion of two categories and won the ''Grand Prix'' of the Béla Bartók International Choir Competition in 2012 in

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

, Hungary. This victory led to an invitation to compete in the

European Grand Prix for Choral Singing The European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (in French, Grand Prix Européen de Chant Choral, commonly abbreviated as European Choral Grand Prix or GPE) is an annual choral competition between the winners of six European choral competitions. It was ...

of 2013 in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

, Italy, where the choir won its second European Grand Prix. Liepiņš studied at the Department of Conducting of the Riga Dome Choir School and earned two bachelor's degrees in choral and symphonic conducting at

Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music ( lv, Jāzepa Vītola Latvijas Mūzikas akadēmija), formerly the Riga Conservatory, is a higher education establishment of music at 1 Barona Street, Riga, Latvia. The junior institute is the Emīls Dār ...

. He has also obtained skills in masterclasses by

Colin Metters Colin Metters, is an English conductor, orchestral trainer and conducting pedagogue. He is Professor of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he founded the Conductors' Course in 1983. In September 2013, he retired as Head of ...

and during his exchange studies in Berlin under

Lutz Köhler Lutz is a surname and given name, occasionally a short form of Ludwig. People with the name include: Surname *Adolfo Lutz (1855–1940), Brazilian physician * Aleda E. Lutz (1915–1944), American Army flight nurse *Alois Lutz, Austrian figure ...

. In recognition of Kamēr... winning the 2013 European Grand Prix, as well as his successful debuts with the

Latvian National Symphony Orchestra The Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO; lv, Latvijas Nacionālais simfoniskais orķestris) is a Latvian orchestra based in Riga. Its primary performance venue is the Great Guild Hall in Riga. In addition to regular symphonic concert ...

, the

Liepāja Symphony Orchestra Liepāja Symphony Orchestra (LSO) ( lv, Liepājas Simfoniskais orķestris) is the oldest orchestra in the Baltic States. It was started in 1881, when the first Philharmonic in the Baltics was established. After the World War II orchestra re-com ...

, and the

Sinfonietta Rīga Sinfonietta Rīga is a state chamber orchestra in Latvia founded in 2006. Consisting of young students, the orchestra is influenced by Western and Eastern culture. Arvo Pärt's works were presented by the ensemble at the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg. ...

, Liepiņš was awarded the Latvian

Grand Music Award Great Music Award ( lv, Lielā mūzikas balva), is the highest prize awarded by the Latvian state in the field of music. Award winners receive a monetary prize, and a silver statuette, created by Armands Jēkabsons. References External links * ...

as the New Artist in 2013, and ''

Diena ''Diena'' (''The Day'') is a Latvian language national daily newspaper in Latvia, published since 23 November 1990. It is one of Latvia's largest daily periodicals and used to be considered as a paper of record. Following the change of ownersh ...

''s Annual Culture Award in 2013.

References

External links

Latvian National Opera

Youth choir "Kamēr..."
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liepins, Janis 1988 births Latvian conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Living people Musicians from Riga 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century male musicians