Valdis Muktupāvels (9 November 1958 in

Līvāni Līvāni ( lv, Līvāni, ; ltg, Leivuons; german: Lievenhof) is a town (population approx. 10,000) in Līvāni Municipality in the Latgale region of Latvia. It is situated at the junction of the Dubna and Daugava rivers, approximately 170 kilome ...

) is a Latvian ethnomusicologist, 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 que ...

. Muktupāvels graduated 1980 from the

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

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

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 ...

in 1996 with a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

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 Magnus Ducatus Poesis 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: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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

kokles Kokle (; ltg, kūkle) 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 ...

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

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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

Curonia Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia ...

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) 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 ...

, Latgale,

Zemgale Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, ( lv, Zemgale; german: Semgallen; lt, Žiemgala; pl, Semigalia; liv, Zemgāl) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located in the south of the Daugava river and the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. ...

, Selonia, Lithuania,

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

and

Yotvingia Yotvingia or Sudovia ( Yotvingian: ''Sūdava'', lt, Dainava, pl, Jaćwież, german: Sudauen, Eastern Slavic: Яцьвезь (Ятвязь, Етвязь), Ятвягия) was a region where the Baltic tribe known as Yotvingians lived. It was ...

) with musical instruments such as

, Jew's harp,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and dūdas.

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 University of Latvia faculty Latvian ethnomusicologists Kokles players Latvian folk musicians {{Latvia-composer-stub