Together with the press conference, which took place on June 4 in one of the concert venues – Lounge Fenikss in the hotel Aston Hotel Riga, the 24th international improvisation, jazz and global music festival Rīgas Ritmi has announced the full program.
This year, the festival will take place from July 3 to 6, and the central concert venue this time will also be the Riga Cathedral garden. On July 4 and 5, the main guest artists will perform there – the Italian guitarist Antonio Forcione living in Great Britain, the Italian bandoneonist Daniele di Bonaventura together with the Latvian chamber orchestra Sinfonietta Rīga, the Cuban pianist Jorge Luis Pacheco and the American singer José James.
Rīgas Ritmi 2024 concerts will also take place in the Noass cultural center, where the Jersika Records label will offer the performance of its artists on July 6. The quartet of clarinetist Indrikis Veitners and vibrophonist Ēriks Miezis, trombonist Vadims Dmitrijevs' quartet and saxophonist Toms Rudzinskis' quartet will perform there, all of whom will present their newest programs.
The trio of pianist Matīss Žilinskis, the project Jazz Meets Harp of harpist Elizabeta Lāce, the trio of guitarist Ella Zīriņa and guitarist Reinis Jaunais together with cellist Erna Daugaviete will perform in Lounge Fenikss at Aston Hotel Riga from July 3 to 6.
All four concerts of the festival day will also be held in the Riga Jazz Lounge at the Radisson Blu Latvija hotel, where the singer Jūlija Zakirova, the Ella Zīriņa trio, the Indrikis Veitners and Ēriks Miezis quartet and the pianist Klāvs Ābols' quintet will perform. The official festival jam session will also take place there every night.
On the other hand, master classes led by the main guest artists of the festival will be held in the Latvian Radio Studio 1 on July 4 and 5. You can apply for them by writing to info@rigasritmi.lv. More information about the master classes and all the performers on the festival website rigasritmi.lv.
"This is always a celebration for us", artistic director Māris Briežkalns did not hide his joy at the proximity of the annual festival at the press conference. "There will be several important Events at the festival – new records will be released for those musicians who will perform in Noass, the American star José James will shine his soul music light in the Riga Cathedral garden together with an equally brilliant accompanying group, the great bandoneonist Daniele di Bonaventura will perform tango suite there, conducting our chamber orchestra Sinfonietta Rīga, the great acoustic music will be played by the genius Antonio Forcione, who is not only a great guitarist, but also really knows how to communicate with the audience, and for the first time the new Cuban piano star Jorge Luis Pacheco, who is also a great showman as well as a singer, will be in Riga, so – come and enjoy some fantastic music!”
"I definitely invite everyone to go to the art center Noass during the festival, because there on the Jersika Stage we will offer a program of three quartets led by Latvian musicians with international guests included", Mareks Ameriks, the head of the Jersika Records label, continued the call for great concerts. "For example, one of the leading Lithuanian guitarists, Pranas Kentra, will also perform in the quartet of Ēriks Miezis and Indriķis Veitners in Noass. All of them have already recorded their debut album together in the Jersika Records studio, which will be released in the fall. But the new trombone star Vadims Dmitrijevs' quartet record Integration! will be released on the day of the concert, July 6. In the meantime, Toms Rudzinskis' quartet has recorded a new album in the Latvian Radio Studio 1 and it will see the light of day at the end of the year. However, in all three concerts, the audience will be able to hear music from these new records. Between the concerts, I will play authentic recordings from the tapes from the legendary festival... Vasaras Ritmi, which was a forerunner of Rīgas Ritmi.”
The music festival Rīgas Ritmi is one of the leading improvisation, jazz and global music festivals in the Baltics. Over the course of two and a half decades, the festival has become an integral part of Latvian cultural life, writing Riga's name in global and jazz music cultural tourism guides. Evaluating the artistic program and organizational quality, as well as its importance in the international circuit, the European Festival Association awarded the Rīgas Ritmi festival with the prestigious quality mark EFFE Label this year as well. The festival is organized by the Contemporary Music Center foundation.
Tickets for the paid concerts of the festival in the Riga Cathedral garden and in the culture center Noass can be purchased at bilesuparadize.lv
The website of the festival: http://www.rigasritmi.lv
