Vestards Šimkus
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Vestards Šimkus
Vestards Šimkus (''Vestard Shimkus'', born 21 August 1984 in Jūrmala) is a Latvian pianist, composer and Improvisation (music), improviser. He has won several international and national awards, plays classical repertoire, composes music for cinema and theatre, and performs his own compositions and spontaneous improvisations. His younger sister Aurēlija Šimkus also is a pianist. Biography Vestards Šimkus was born on 21 August 1984 in Jūrmala, Latvia. His mother Iveta Šimkus is a published poet and a teacher of literature. His father Gunārs Šimkus used to be an art-rock musician who was active in the 1960s and 1970s and founded the first rock band named ''Katedrāle'' in Latvia. His sister Aurēlija is an accomplished pianist and recording artist. Šimkus started to play the piano in age of 5. From 1990 until 2002, he studied in Emīls Dārziņš Music School in Riga, where his teachers were Ruta Švinka, Ligita Muižarāja, Teofils Biķis and Sergejs Osokins. In 2002/2 ...
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Jūrmala
Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and is sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach and is the fifth-largest city in Latvia. While Latvia was under Occupation of the Baltic states, Soviet occupation, Jūrmala was a favorite holiday-resort and tourist destination for high-level Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Communist Party officials, particularly Leonid Brezhnev and Nikita Khrushchev. Although many amenities such as beach-houses and concrete hotels remain, some have fallen into disrepair. Jūrmala remains a tourist attraction with long beaches facing the Gulf of Riga and romantic wooden houses in the Art Nouveau style. Names and administrative history The name Jūrmala stems from Latvian language, Latvian ''jūra'' ("sea") and ''mala'' ("edge", "side", "margin"), thus "seaside" in English language, English. In 1920, soon ...
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Konserthuset
The Stockholm Concert Hall () is the main hall for orchestral music in Stockholm, Sweden. With a design by Ivar Tengbom chosen in competition, inaugurated in 1926, the Hall is home to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. It is also where the awarding ceremonies for the Nobel Prize and the Polar Music Prize are held annually. The interior includes work by Ewald Dahlskog, and the walls and ceiling in the minor hall, now known as Grünewald Hall, were painted by Isaac Grünewald. The exterior is the site of sculptor Carl Milles Carl Milles (; 23 June 1875 – 19 September 1955) was a Swedes, Swedish sculpture, sculptor. He was married to artist Olga Milles (née Granner) and brother to Ruth Milles and half-brother to the architect Evert Milles. Carl Milles sculpted the ...' 1936 bronze fountain, the Orfeus-brunnen ("the Orpheus Well"). The blue building lies to the east of Hötorget. Many pop and rock concerts by famous artists have taken place at the Stockho ...
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Berwaldhallen
The Berwald Hall () is a concert hall situated in a park landscape at Dag Hammarskjölds väg 3 in the Östermalm district of Stockholm, Sweden. Construction on the building began in 1976 based on a design by architects Erik Ahnborg and Sune Lindström. The hall is shaped as a hexagon. The seating is 1,302 places, of which 482 are in the stalls. The hall won a Europa Nostra architecture award as an "admirably sensitive designed concert hall". History In 1966, the head of Swedish radio Olof Rydbeck and director of music Karl-Birger Blomdahl approached the then Minister of Transport and Communications Olof Palme about the need for a new home for the national radio orchestra where they could rehearse, record and give concerts in the same hall. Plans began in the 1970s. The hall was originally supposed be located at the end of the Karlavägen esplanade but was moved further along the water. The site was selected to allow the hall to merge with nature and was positioned in the r ...
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Radio France
Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety of music, plus hourly news bulletins with extended news coverage in the morning, midday, and early-evening peaks *France Info (radio network), France Info — 24-hour news *France Culture — cultural programming covering the arts, history, science, philosophy, etc. together with in-depth news coverage at peak times *France Musique — European classical music, classical music and jazz *ici (radio network), Ici — a network of 44 regional stations, mixing popular music with locally based talk and information, including: **Ici Paris Île-de-France — for the Paris-Île-de-France region **France Bleu Béarn Bigorre, Ici Béarn Bigorre — Pyrénées-Atlantiques **France Bleu Nord, Ici Nord — Nord (French department), Nor ...
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Tokyo Opera City Tower
is a skyscraper located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Completed in 1996, it stands 234 metres (768 feet) high and has 54 floors. The tower is the third-tallest building in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and seventh-tallest in Tokyo. The closest train station to Opera City is Hatsudai. The building houses concert halls, an art gallery, a media-art museum (NTT InterCommunication Center) and many restaurants and shops on its lower floors. The fifth through fifty-second floors are devoted to office space. The building is adjacent to the New National Theater, which is located in Shibuya, Tokyo. The combined complex of the tower and the theatre is called the "Tokyo Opera City". In film The building is seen blown up by a UFO in the 1999 Kaiju film ''Godzilla 2000 is a 1999 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Takao Okawara, with special effects by Kenji Suzuki. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 24th film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, Toh ...
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Konzerthaus Berlin
The Konzerthaus Berlin is a concert hall in Berlin, the home of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Situated on the Gendarmenmarkt square in the central Mitte district of the city, it was originally built as a theater. It initially operated from 1818 to 1821 under the name of the Schauspielhaus Berlin, then as the Theater am Gendarmenmarkt and Komödie. It became a concert hall after the Second World War, and its name changed to its present one in 1994. The Konzerthausorchester Berlin is the resident orchestra of the Konzerthaus Berlin. The concert hall also hosts Young Euro Classic every summer, an international festival of youth orchestras. History National-Theater (1802–1817) The building's predecessor, the ''National-Theater'' in the Friedrichstadt suburb, was destroyed by fire in 1817. It had been designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans, and was inaugurated on 1 January 1802. Königliches Schauspielhaus (1817–1870) The new hall was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel betwe ...
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Konzerthaus, Vienna
The Konzerthaus is a concert hall located in Vienna, Austria, which opened in 1913. It is situated in the third district just at the edge of the first district in Vienna. Since it was founded it has always tried to emphasise both traditional and innovative musical styles. In 1890, the first ideas for a ''Haus für Musikfeste'' (House for music festivals) came about. The idea of the new multi-purpose building was to be more interesting to the broader public than the traditional Vienna Musikverein. In addition to the concert hall, the first drawings by Ludwig Baumann for the ''Olympion'' included an ice-skating area and a bicycle club. In an attached open air area, 40,000 visitors would be able to attend events. Although the drawings were not accepted, today an ice skating area is situated right next to the building. The Konzerthaus was finally built between 1911 and 1913. The architects were Fellner & Helmer; the work was done in cooperation with Ludwig Baumann. Performance facil ...
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Borodin Quartet
The Borodin Quartet is a string quartet that was founded in 1945 in the then Soviet Union. It is one of the world's longest-lasting string quartets, having marked its 70th-anniversary season in 2015. The quartet was one of the Soviet Union's best known in the West during the Cold War era, through recordings as well as concert performances in the United States and Europe. The quartet had a close relationship with composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who personally consulted them on each of his quartets. They also performed with the pianist Sviatoslav Richter on many occasions. They have recorded all of Shostakovich's string quartets as well as all of Beethoven's quartets. Their other recordings include works by a wide range of composers on the Melodiya, Teldec, Virgin Records, and Chandos Records labels. The original Borodin quartet's sound was characterised by an almost symphonic volume and a highly developed ability to phrase while maintaining group cohesion. Although it has seen many ...
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NDR Symphony Orchestra
The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra () is a German radio orchestra. Affiliated with the ''Norddeutscher Rundfunk'' (NDR; North German Broadcasting), the orchestra is based at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany. Earlier the ensemble was called the NDR Symphony Orchestra (), and was also known in English as the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra. History British occupation authorities founded the orchestra after World War II as part of Radio Hamburg (NWDR), which was the only radio station in what would become West Germany not destroyed during the war. The first musicians came mostly from the ranks of the old Nazi-controlled ''Großes Rundfunkorchester des Reichssenders Hamburg''. Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, who was living near Hamburg, was given the task of assembling the members, something he accomplished over a period of six months. Schmidt-Isserstedt conducted the orchestra's first concert in November 1945, with Yehudi Menuhin as soloist. Schmidt-Isserstedt served as ...
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Kremerata Baltica
Kremerata Baltica is a chamber orchestra consisting of musicians from Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). It was founded by Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer in 1997. Gidon Kremer is an artistic director of Kremerata Baltica. Description Kremerata Baltica first appeared on stage of Austria's Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival and since then has become well known for its energy and joy in playing. The orchestra was formed as an educational project promoting the cultural life of the Baltics. By Los Angeles Times they were described as "extraordinary young players ... hoanimate everything their bows touch." Kremerata Baltica performs around 70 concerts annually during tours throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Regular performances are held in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Japan, the United States of America, and other countries concert halls like Carnegie Hall (USA), Schloss Neuhardenberg, Schloss Elmau, Philharmonie im Gasteig in Munich (Germa ...
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Czech Philharmonic
The Czech Philharmonic () is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. Its principal performing venue is the Rudolfinum concert hall. History The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the title of the orchestra of the Prague National Theatre. It played its first concert under its current name on 4 January 1896 when Antonín Dvořák conducted his own compositions, but it did not become fully independent from the opera until 1901. The first representative concert took place on 15 October 1901 conducted by Ludvík Čelanský, the first artistic director of the orchestra. In 1908, Gustav Mahler led the orchestra in the world premiere of his Symphony No. 7. The orchestra first became internationally known during the principal conductorship of Václav Talich, who held the post from 1919 to 1931, and again from 1933 to 1941. In 1941, Talich and the orchestra made a controversial journey to Germany, where they performed Bedřich Smetana's '' My C ...
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