During the celebrations dedicated to the 34th anniversary of the restoration of the independence of the Republic of Latvia, on May 4, a parade program of Latvian school brass bands was held at the Freedom Square in Riga, and our Gulbene region singers Normunds Mazūrs, Krišjānis Upāns and Sabīne Krilova-Šmite performed the song “Atmostas Baltija” in three languages at the Freedom Monument – Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian.
Content will continue after the ad.
They sang this song for the first time in April, when the 13th Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival brass band modeling concert “That’s how the sound was born” took place in Gulbene.
N.Mazūrs tells “Dzirkstele” that not much time passed after singing in Gulbene and he received a phone call from the people who organized the event at the Freedom Monument, who asked if he would be willing to sing at the May 4th event as well.
“It was a surprise! Artists are usually called by name at such events. Without thinking for a long time, I asked Sabine and Krišjāni if they could and wanted to. They responded immediately. Standing there, at the monument, without any noise and singing to a crowd of listeners – these are indescribable feelings! It is also a great sense of responsibility, and it is unlikely that I will have such an opportunity again, so I especially appreciate it,” says N. Mazūrs.
Content will continue after the ad.
K. Upans performed this piece in Estonian. He admits it was a challenge. Before that, he specially learned to sing this song in the language of the neighboring people. “I don’t know how successful it was. You should ask an Estonian how exactly I did it,” K. Upāns smiles. But about the very opportunity to sing at the Freedom Monument in Riga, he says: “Very uplifting, in some sense excitement, responsibility. A vivid impression!”
S. Krilova-Šmite, who sang in Lithuanian, tells the newspaper that this is a very important event for all of them as soloists, and it is an honor for the Gulbene region. “These emotions when standing at the foot of the monument and singing the song “Atmostas Baltija” accompanied by several orchestras are a huge honor! These are feelings of patriotism. Very emotional! On a beautiful day, in a beautiful time, wonderful colleagues – both Normunds and Krišjānis. There was a big ovation and applause. I already said that in life you don’t often get to sing at the Freedom Monument. It is one of the very emotional moments of my life of singing events. Who knows when there will be another chance to sing at the Freedom Monument. After this song, we also sang the national anthem, which was such an emotional moment,” says S. Krylova-Šmite.
Tags: Gulbene region singers perform song Atmostas Baltija Freedom Monument Riga Gulbene region Dzirkstele .lv
