Artists:
maestro Raimonds Pauls,
Edgars Ošleja (bass),
Latvian Radio Big Band

On January 12 at 16:00, a special concert dedicated to Raimonds Pauls’ birthday will take place at Dzintari Concert Hall. This annual tradition celebrates Maestro’s birthday with a performance alongside his stage colleagues. On this evening, Raimonds Pauls will be joined by soloist Edgars Ošleja and the Latvian Radio Big Band.

Maestro Raimonds Pauls has spent his entire creative life discovering talent and finding new voices for his songs. This continues in 2024, as the Maestro has started a collaboration with the young and talented bass of the Latvian National Opera, Edgars Ošleja, who won the Latvian Grand Music Award in 2021 in the “Young Artist of the Year” category. He is one of the most remarkable opera soloists of his generation, and his debut in the pop music genre has been in collaboration with Raimonds Pauls. The Maestro has created new songs for Edgar’s voice, which have already been recorded in the album “Raimonds Pauls’ Songs Sung by Edgars Ošleja” and performed at several concerts in Latvia. At Dzintari Concert Hall, these songs will be heard in new arrangements for the bigband.

Edgars Ošleja says: “The concert program with the Maestro is a tremendous honor for me, offering a completely new perspective on music. Trying my voice in pop music is something entirely new – a different rhythm, a different style. Experience worldwide has shown that the boundaries between opera and pop genres often dissolve.”

The musicians will be accompanied by Raimonds Pauls’ ever-reliable stage partner – the Latvian Radio Big Band, under the patronage of the Maestro himself. The big band leader and arranger Kārlis Vanags has consistently been able to fuse the Maestro’s distinctive style with the sound of jazz music.