The UVA Music Department presents a free colloquium with composer Ēriks Ešenvalds entitled Imagination and Creativity in the Music by Ēriks Ešenvaldson on Friday, 4/12/24, at 3:30 PM in Old Cabell Hall room 107. 

Ēriks Ešenvalds is one of the most sought-after composers working today, with a busy commission schedule. Performances of his music are heard on every continent, and his works are widely recorded. At present, he heads the Department of Composition at the Latvian Academy of Music, where he has been teaching since 2004. Ešenvalds has won multiple awards for his work, including the Latvian Grand Music Award three times (2005, 2007, 2015). The International Rostrum of Composers awarded him first prize in 2006 for his work The Legend of the Walled-in Woman. He was The Year’s New-Composer Discovery of the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2010. In 2018, he was bestowed Officer in the Order of the Three Stars, the highest state decoration of his home country Latvia, for merits in the field of culture. His compositions have been premiered by ensembles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Britten Sinfonia, Gewandhaus Leipzig, The King’s Singers, Latvian Voices, Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, Holst Singers, Imogen Heap, Polyphony, Choir of Merton College Oxford, Latvian Radio Choir, State Choir Latvija, Bavarian Radio Choir, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Opera and Ballet, BBC Proms Youth Choir, Netherlands National Children’s Choir, The University of Louisville Cardinal Singers, Yale Glee Club, and now for this North American premiere, the UVA University Singers.

His music has been performed in major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Symphony Hall in Boston, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, Symphony Hall in Birmingham, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. This year, he travels to the USA, Japan, and many European countries.  He lives near Riga and is married with four children.

Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA’s historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda. (map) Parking is available in the central grounds parking garage on Emmet Street, in the C1 parking lot off McCormick Rd, and in the parking lots at the UVA Corner. 

To see all events in our colloquium series visit https://music.virginia.edu/colloquia.

All events are subject to change.

Please contact the UVA Music Department at 434.924.3052 or music@virginia.edu for more information.