Valdis Muktupāvels (9 November 1958 in

Līvāni Līvāni ( ; ; ) is a town (population approx. 10,000) in Līvāni Municipality in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is situated at the junction of the Dubna River (Daugava basin), Dubna and Daugava River, Daugava rivers, approximately 170 ...

) is a Latvian

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

, composer, musician, teacher and doctor of

art criticism Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is quest ...

. Muktupāvels graduated 1980 from the

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

and acquired a specialty in chemistry in 1983. He completed the

Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (), formerly the Riga Conservatory, is a higher music conservatory in Riga, Latvia. The junior institute is the Emīls Dārziņš Music School. History The Latvian Conservatory of Music was founded in ...

in 1996 with a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in art criticism. Muktupāvels has worked for the University of Latvia since 1989; since 1999 at the Art History and Philology Faculty, and since 2002 as a professor. Muktupāvels has been a member of the Latvian National Cultural Council since 2002. He is a pioneer in the revival of traditional instruments in Latvia, and has performed in many countries in Europe, North America, and countries like Australia, India and Japan. He was also the founder and director of the folklore ensemble Rasa, which was active from 1988 to 1998. Muktupāvels is a participant. Muktupāvels was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas in 2001. He is president of the AKKA/LAA (''Copyright and Communication Consulting Agency/Latvian Authors Association'') since 2013. In 2010 culture management center Lauska released Muktupāvels' bilingual book in Latvian and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

titled "Kokles un koklēšana Latvijā/The Baltic Psaltery and Playing Traditions in Latvia" that also included a CD with

kokles Kokle (; ) or historically kokles (''kūkles'') is a Latvian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Lithuanian kanklės, Estonian kannel, Finnish kantele, and ...

tunings, exercises and repertoire. In late 2019, Muktupāvels toured the United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

together with his wife, performing various traditional songs from different historical Baltic regions (

Curonia Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-centra ...

Latgale Latgale (; ; ; ; ; ; Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin: ''Łathalija''; ), also known as Latgalia or Latgallia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region of the country and lies north of the Daugava River. Wh ...

Zemgale Semigallia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory is split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic trib ...

Selonia Selonia (; ), also known as Augšzeme (the "Highland"), is one of the Historical Latvian Lands encompassing the eastern part of the historical region of Semigallia () as well as a portion of northeastern Lithuania. Its main city and cultural ce ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

and

Yotvingia Yotvingia, or Sudovia, was a region where the Balts, Baltic tribe known as Yotvingians lived. It was located in the area of Suvalkija, Sudovia and Dzūkija, Dainava; south west from the upper Nemunas, between Marijampolė, Merkinė (Lithuania) ...

) with musical instruments such as

Jew's harp The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

dūdas ''Dūdas'' or ''somas stabules'' is a type of bagpipe native to Latvia, popular from the 16th to 18th centuries. History The instrument is believed to have first appeared in Livonia in the 15th century, with the first documentary evidence of ...

. His spouse is .

References

Balticists 1958 births Living people People from Līvāni Municipality Latvian composers Knight's Crosses of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas University of Latvia alumni Academic staff of the University of Latvia Latvian ethnomusicologists Kokles players Latvian folk musicians {{Latvia-composer-stub