Celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2012, the State Choir "Latvija" is one of Europe's finest choirs and the winner of many awards, including five times the Latvian state award (1998, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2010). It received the award of the Latvian Council of Ministers in 2003 and the award of the Latvian Cultural Ministry in 2007. The Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the State Choir "Latvija" since 1997 has been Maris Sirmais.
Its repertoire covers golden classics in all genres of choral music, both accompanied and unaccompanied, in a time frame from the early Renaissance to the present day, including oratories, cantatas, masses, symphonies, opera performances as well as a broad a cappella repertoire. The choir is constantly updating its repertoire with innovative music in the most varied of genres, from jazz to film. The choir featured on the sound track for Tom Tykwer's film Perfume, a CD of which was released in 2006 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Simon Rattle.
In recent years it has partnered leading orchestras in many parts of the world under numerous outstanding conductors. It has appeared on concerts in Israel, Germany, Estonia, Finland, Amsterdam, London, Moscow and St Petersburg as well as Singapore under Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Valeri Gergijev, Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Fedosejev ja Tõnu Kaljuste.
In 2007 the choir organised the 10th International Sacred Music Festival that took in the first performance in Latvia of Leonard Bernstein's Mass. Also in that year it gave the world premiere performance of Lera Auerbach's Russian Requiem.
At the end of 2007 the Latvija choir performed Itaipu, a work by Philip Glass and 2000 Today: A World Symphony for the Millennium by Tan Dun. In 2008 it premiered Arvo Pärt's Deer's Cry in Ireland, in a Baltic Voices concert.
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State Choir "Latvija"