
Kārlis Lācis (born September 21, 1977) is a
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
n contemporary composer. Along with the scores for theatre productions, movies, and musical arrangements, a large part of his work is dedicated to vocal and choral music, symphonic, and instrumental compositions, including "Te Deum" (2014) with the State Choir Latvija, and double concerto for flute, oboe and orchestra "42.195" (2014) with
Liepaja symphony orchestra. "Rorate coeli" (2014) for soprano, saxophone and organ and the first symphony "Via Crucis" premiered on April 3, 2015 with Latvian National symphony orchestra. Kārlis was one of the jury members for
2014 World choir games while Latvian capital Riga was the
European capital of culture. His creative contribution includes musicals staged in
Liepāja theatre and
Dailes theatre "Pūt vējiņi" (2011) and "Oņēgins" (2013), both rewarded with the highest annual theater award for the best music author.
Upcoming premieres will include "Waltz for double-bass and string quartet" (2017) - collaboration with famous Latvian musician
Vineta Sareika(violin)
Gunārs Upatnieks(double - bass) and their colleagues from
Berlin Philharmonic orchestra during the festival
Sensus in Liepāja on July 12, 2017.
Biography
Kārlis Lācis was born in
Tukums. He graduated Kandava Children's School of Music (piano class), Kandava secondary school (1992), Jāzeps Mediņš College of Music in Riga (piano class, 1997) and the
Latvian Academy of Music, where he studied piano with Juris Kalnciems (1997–2001, bachelor's degree, 2003–2005, master's degree), as well as composition with Juris Karlsons (2001–2002).
Works
Theatre music
In 2005, Lācis composed for Deah Loher's ''Klāras sakari'', directed by Gintaras Varnas. It premiered at
Dailes Theatre on 29 February 2005. In 2006, he composed for ''Riga's Tango'', a ballet in one act in honor of late composer Oskars Stroks. Ilya Vlasenko choreographed the show and it premiered 3 April 2006 at the
Latvian National Opera. German Grekov's ''Hanana'', directed by Dž. Dž. Džilindžers, premiered February 5, 2010 at
Liepāja Theatre Later that year, on 17 September, he composed for
Friedrich Schiller's ''
Mary Stuart''. This show opened at the Dailes Theatre and was also directed by Džilindžers. ''Pūt Vējiņi'', a musical based on works by
Rainis and directed by Džilindžers, opened 11 November 2011 at the Liepāja Theatre. Just over a month later, he composed for
Kārlis Skalbe's children's play ''Pasaka par vērdiņu'', directed by Pauls Timrots and open at the Dailes Theatre starting 21 December.
On 27 January 2012, he worked on
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
Romeo and Juliet
''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...
'', which was directed by Džilindžers and opened at the Dailes Theatre. He composed ''Oņegins'', a musical based on
Alexander Pushkin's ''
Eugene Onegin'', which was also directed by Džilindžers. It opened 22 February 2013 at Dailes Theatre. Lācis did not compose for professional theatre in 2014 and returned with
Maxim Gorky's ''
Children of the Sun'', directed by Džilindžers and open at the Dailes Theatre starting 9 January 2015. He also worked on ''Joan of Arc'', again with Džilindžers at the Dailes. This premiered 9 January 2015.
Discography
Co-producer, composer:
Additional reading
Reviews
* Radzobe, S. (2011, December 21). ''Meistardarbs Liepājas teātrī''. NRA.lv
https://www.nra.lv* Dūmiņa, L. (2012, August 23). ''Pūt, vējiņi! ar milža spēku''. NRA.lv
* Kultūras diena. (2012, August 27). ''Latvijas teātru ābolu ķocis. Liepājas teātra mūzikls Pūt, vējiņi!'' Kultūras diena
https://www.diena.lv* Znotiņš, A. (2013, January 31). ''Koncerta Neakadēmisks vakars ar Kārli Lāci recenzija. Kārļa Lāča mūzikas vilinājums''. Kultūras diena
https://www.diena.lv* Kultūras diena. (2013, February 27). ''Puškins Lāča nagos dus''. Kultūras diena
https://www.diena.lv* Čakare, V. (2013, March 8). ''Kur virsdrēbe, kur odere?'' Krosders.lv
https://www.kroders.lv* Silabriedis, O. (2013, March 8). ''Neņemsim pārāk nopietni''. Krosders.lv
https://www.kroders.lv* Kultūras diena. (2013, May 15). ''Ābolu ķocis. Katra emocija un intonācija trāpa desmitniekā.'' Kultūras diena
https://www.diena.lv
Interviews
* Rudaks, U. (2013, January 24). ''Kārlis Lācis: Man nevedas sarunas par lielo harmoniju''. Kultūras diena
https://www.diena.lv
* Vilkārse, I. (2013, April 8). ''Divu vienādu reižu nav…'' Kroders.lv
https://www.kroders.lv
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacis, Karlis
1977 births
Living people
People from Tukums
Latvian classical composers
Latvian pianists
21st-century pianists