Classic FM, Britain’s largest classical radio station, has included the Rīga Jūrmala Festival’s educational programme among its latest list of the most significant classical music broadcasts this summer.
The Rīga Jūrmala Academy is collaborating with the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music to give young talents from Latvia and the Baltics the chance to learn online from the musicians of the current and previous season of the Festival. The Rīga Jūrmala Academy has been ranked alongside the online programmes of such classical music events as the Glyndebourne Festival, the Bergen International Festival, the Gstaad Festival, the George Enescu International Festival and the Cambridge Summer Music Festival.
“One of the Festival’s aims is to support the growth of young talent, and last year we announced our new educational programme, the Rīga Jūrmala Academy. We had planned a series of summer masterclasses for the new academy in collaboration with the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, to be led by experienced international musicians who had already performed or were scheduled to perform at the Festival,” explains Zane Čulkstēna, Executive Director of the Festival. “Reacting to current events, we have adapted to the situation and 11 masterclasses have already taken place under the leadership of top musicians from our beloved Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.”
Eleven masterclasses have already taken place, offered by musicians from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra—principal violinists Tobias Steymans and Julita Smolen, principal cellist Lionel Cottet, and piccolo flautist Natalie Schwaabe. Music students from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, the Emīls Dārziņš Music School and London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama participated.
