In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument

Eriks Esenvalds Biography

Click Here for Sheet Music and Songbook Vocal Arrangements

Born: 1977. Living in: Latvia
Eriks Esenvalds is one of the most sought-after composers working today, with a busy commission schedule and performances of his music heard on every continent. Born in Priekule, Latvia in 1977, he studied at the Latvian Baptist Theological Seminary (1995-97) before obtaining his Master's degree in composition (2004) from the Latvian Academy of Music under the tutelage of Selga Mence. He took master-classes with Michael Finnissy, Klaus Huber, Philippe Manoury, and Jonathan Harvey, amongst others. From 2002-11 he was a member of the State Choir Latvija. In 2011 he was awarded the two-year position of Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. He is married with four children and gives students his expertise as composition teacher at the Latvian Academy of Music.

Eriks has won multiple awards for his work, including the Latvian Grand Music Award three times (2005, 2007, and 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

Eriks Esenvald's compositions have been premiered by ensembles including Boston Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, the Britten Sinfonia, The King's Singers, Latvian Voices, the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, the Holst Singers, Imogen Heap, Polyphony, the Choir of Merton College Oxford, the Latvian Radio Choir, the State Choir Latvija, the Kamer Youth Choir, Sinfonietta Riga, the Bavarian Radio Choir, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Opera and Ballet, the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, Ora Singers, National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, the Netherlands National Children's Choir, Shenzhen Lily Choir, New Zealand Youth Choir, the Swedish Art Vocal Ensemble, the Choir of Trinity College Melbourne, Salt Lake Vocal Artists, Temple University Concert Choir, The Crossing, Chor Leoni, Golden Gate Men's Chorus, Portland State University Chamber Choir, the Choir of the West at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, ChorWerk Ruhr, Cor Vivaldi, The University of Louisville Cardinal Singers, Yale Glee Club, the Miami University Men's Glee Club, The University of Mississippi Concert Singers, Lincoln's Inn Choir, Wartburg College Choir, Oklahoma State University Concert Chorale, Classical Movements, Saint Louis Chamber Chorus, Louisville University Cardinal Singers, Cabrillo Chorus, and the Monterey Chamber Orchestra. He composed the score for the Crystal Bear-awarded film Mellow Mud.

Eriks music has been performed at numerous international festivals including Klangspuren in Austria, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany, Tenso Days in France, the Haarlem Choir Biennale in the Netherlands, the Latvian Song and Dance Festival, International Sacred Music Festival in Latvia, the World Choir Games, IFCM World Symposium on Choral Music, the Cheltenham Music Festival and Voices Now in the UK, the ACDA National and Regional Conferences and Spoleto Festival in the US, and The Singing Network in Canada.

He is a popular public speaker, which he often combines with leading workshops on his music. At the 2014 World Choir Games held in Riga, he composed the Games anthem, gave a major presentation on his work, acted on competition juries, and had a large-scale production premiered by the Latvian Voices and The King's Singers. The 2015 ACDA National Conference in Salt Lake City premiered his Whispers on the Prairie Wind, where he also gave a presentation on his music, and took part in a composer roundtable forum. He was a speaker at the 2017 IFCM World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona, Choral Connect 2017 in Auckland, and the Singing Network International Symposium 2015 in St John's, Canada. He served as a jury member at the 2017 Musica Sacra Nova International Composers Competition at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome, the Cantat International Choral Festival and Symposium 2017 in Manado, Indonesia, and the 2016 Rimini International Choral Competition.

His compositions appear on many recordings released by labels such as Hyperion, Decca Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, Delphian Records, Pentatone, Ondine, and Naxos. To date, seven recordings are devoted exclusively to his work: Northern Lights from Trinity College Choir Cambridge (Gramophone Award Shortlist, Gramophone Critics Choice, ICI Radio-Canada Best Albums Selection), Passion and Resurrection with the Britten Sinfonia and Polyphony, St Luke Passion by the Latvian Radio Choir and Sinfonietta Riga (Gramophone Editor's Choice, Opera News Critic's Choice), The Doors of Heaven from Portland State Chamber Choir (Gramophone Editor's Choice), From the dim and distant past and At the Foot of the Sky by State Choir Latvija (Best Latvian Classical Album of the Year), and O Salutaris by the Kamer Youth Choir (Best Latvian Classical Album of the Year).