Choir "Dziedonis"

The men's choir "Dziedonis" of the University of Latvia was founded in 1924 and is a classical men's choir that reflects, preserves and develops the unique cultural tradition of the Latvian men's choirs. Traditionally, current and former students and lecturers of the University of Latvia, as well as representatives of various professions, sing in this choir, forming a friendly group of different generations - in total of 45 active singers. Currently, "Dziedonis" is managed and conducted by Uldis Kokars.
During the 100 years of existence, "Dziedonis" has participated in both local and foreign competitions and festivals, and solo and fellowship concert programs. In 2018, at the hundredth Nationwide Lavian Sog and Dance festival, the men's choir "Dziedonis" won the main prize of the "Choir Wars" - the Grand Prix, officially becoming the best men's choir in the country. In 2023, during the "Choir Wars", the choir became a sensation on social media when the staged work of Andris Sejans "Ka mate! Ka ora!" caused a loud resonance. In recent years, the choir has been practicing commissioning compositions from talanted and experienced Latvian composers, as a result several large-scale compositions have been composed for this choire specifically - an arrangement of M.Brauns/Rainis mass "Daugava" for men's choir, Andris Sejans mass "Latvian soldier", and Valtis Puce program of patriotic songs "To Motherland and Freedom". Celebrating the hundredth anniversary, the choir displayed the special bond of male choirs with the cycle "Latvian myth" created by composer Laura Jekabsone.