The band “Turaidas Roze” invites you to their 40th anniversary concerts!
The popular band “Turaidas Roze” will celebrate its 40th anniversary, and to mark this occasion, they invite you to jubilee concerts in the spring of 2025, joined by the wind orchestra “Horizonts”.
“Composer Imants Kalniņš’s songs, though not the easiest or simplest, unite generations; they are sung and listened to by both young and old. That’s why next spring, we invite everyone to join in the celebration, as the festive day is here again—a chance to sing together! It seems that everyone has their own favorite Imants Kalniņš tune to hum, one that shifts with their mood, where the lyrics speak so directly and precisely,” say the musicians. They add that these anniversary concerts will be particularly special, as the band will be joined on stage by the wind orchestra “Horizonts”, with songs specially arranged for the occasion, giving them a unique, never-before-heard sound.
“Ten years ago, we performed with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, but this will be our first collaboration with a wind orchestra featuring more than 40 musicians. The idea for this collaboration came to me after watching the beautiful united wind orchestra concert at Andrejsala during last year’s Song and Dance Festival—especially during the moment when they performed Imants Kalniņš’s music from the film Pūt, vējiņi!,” says Olga Rajecka. “I reached out to the concert’s conductor, Tomas Kokamegi, and we agreed to create a new Turaidas Roze concert program in collaboration with the wind orchestra Horizonts. This will be something unprecedented and very exciting!
In the anniversary concerts, the new arrangements will include songs like Ai, māsa Lietuva!, Kas jūs esat?, Nelaid, māte, bērnus mežā, Vējš un liepa, and other beautiful songs by Imants Kalniņš. The program will also feature some lesser-known songs that will be a discovery for many,” Rajecka previews the upcoming concerts, adding that local wind orchestras will join the performances in each city.
“I believe this project will be a great success, and there will definitely be more surprises in store,” she adds.
The band’s lead vocalist, Uģis Roze, acknowledges: “Since it has been a while since we’ve performed for a wider audience, our anniversary tour will be a chance to delight the fans of ‘Turaidas Roze’! There will be surprises in the concert—both in the accompanying lineup and in other ways, so it will be interesting for both us and you, the listeners!”
Meanwhile, the band’s guitarist, Aivars Gudrais, expresses his excitement about how everything will sound together with the wind orchestra. “We’ve played with a symphony orchestra before, but collaborating with a wind orchestra will be a new experience, as I’ve never heard them perform Imants Kalniņš’s music,” he laughs, adding that he looks forward to seeing all the fans who attended Turaidas Roze concerts in the 1980s, now coming with their children and grandchildren. “It’s also been a while since we’ve performed together with Uģis and Olga, so this will be a joyful reunion on stage. And I’m also waiting to see if ImKa will write a new song in honor of ‘Turaidas Roze’s’ anniversary…”
The concerts will feature an instrumental group led by Jānis Miltiņš (keyboards): Jānis Rubiks (bass guitar), Aivars Gudrais (guitar), and Armands Mediņš (percussion).
Let us remind you that the band “Turaidas Roze” was founded in 1985, and its most distinctive musical hallmark became the composer Imants Kalniņš, as well as the soloists Olga Rajecka and Uģis Roze, who became an irreplaceable value of Latvian pop music in the 1980s.
See you at the concerts!
