Liepāja Symphony Orchestra (LSO; ) is the oldest orchestra in the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

. It was started in 1881, when the first Philharmonic in the Baltics was established. After the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

orchestra re-commenced its work in 1947, under the wing of the Music School of Liepāja, led by the director of the music school for many years – Valdis Vikmanis. A new chapter in the history of orchestra started at the very end of 1986, when orchestra was granted the status of a professional symphony orchestra, and became the second professional symphony orchestra in

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 ...

. For many years its artistic director was Imants Resnis (1992–2009), for several seasons it was Atvars Lakstīgala who worked with the orchestra (2009–2016), but since 2017 the artistic director and chief conductor of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra is Gintaras Rinkevicius (

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 ...

). Since 2015 home of the orchestra is the new concert hall of Liepāja - the " Great Amber". In March 2016, the ''24th Liepaja International Stars Festival'' took place in the Great Amber Concert Hall. The festival opened on March 5, 2016 under the direction of conductor Matthias Manasi with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and the piano duo Amal. Matthias Manasi played and conducted the '' Piano Concerto No. 0'' by

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. Bishara Haroni and

Yaron Kohlberg Yaron Kohlberg (; born in Jerusalem on 6 March 1983) is an Israeli pianist. He won prestigious international prizes and performs regularly on major stages worldwide. Beginning in 2018, Kohlberg is the Artistic Director of the Cleveland Interna ...

were the soloists in the '' Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra'' by

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

and the '' Piano Concerto No. 10'' for two pianos by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. In the repertoire politics special attention is paid to Latvian music – the orchestra has repeatedly premiered and commissioned new works. In recent seasons all the 12 monumental opuses of Liepaja concert series initiated by LSO have been submitted to public and specialist evaluation. They have been released by such record labels as “ Odradek Records”, “ Toccata Classics” and “Skani”. Orchestra has two times received the highest national music award – The Great Music Award, as well as numerous Latvian Recordings Awards.

References

Liepāja Latvian orchestras Symphony orchestras {{orchestra-stub