Latvian choral conductor Sigvards Klava graduated from the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music in conducting, and continued his studies at the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart. He became the chief conductor and artistic director of the Latvian Radio Choir in 1992, and he has conducted the major choirs and orchestras of his country, as well as many other ensembles across Europe. A co-founder of the Latvian New Music Festival ARENA, Klava is a member of its artistic board, and he has cultivated new choral works from leading contemporary composers, including Peteris Vasks, Juris Abols, Maija Einfelde, Eriks Ešenvalds, Arturs Maskats, and Santa Ratniece. Klava has performed in Amsterdam at the Royal Concertgebouw and the Muziekgebouw; in Berlin at the Konzerthaus and the Philharmonie; the Berlioz Opera House in Montpellier; the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the Cité de la musique in Paris; the Bervaldhallen in Stockholm; the Frauenkirche in Dresden; and at Lincoln Center in New York. A winner of the Latvian Grand Music Award, Klava has also received the award of the Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia. He is a teacher in the choral department of the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music and the choral college of the Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral in Riga. His recordings have been released on Neu, Lawo Classics, BIS, and Ondine. ~ Blair Sanderson, Rovi