The State Choir Latvija celebrated its seventieth anniversary in 2012. It has received the Great Music Award of Latvia six times and in 2003 was presented with the Award of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia. In 2007 the Choir was given the Award of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia.
In 2010 The State Choir Latvija made its debut in New York with three concerts at the White Light Festival organized by the Lincoln Center.
The New York Times characterized the choir’s sound as ‘exquisite, beautiful and magnificent’. At present the choir is in high demand in Europe and gives concerts in the most prestigious concert halls, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Laeiszhalle Hamburg; Lucerne Concert Hall; Igor Stravinsky Hall in Montreux and others.
The choir has worked with the leading symphony orchestras of Germany, Finland, Singapore, Israel, Greece, Switzerland, USA, Estonia, Moscow and Saint Petersburg, with prominent conductors including Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Kristian Järvi, David Zinman, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Simone Young and Tõnu Kaljuste.
Since 1997 the artistic director and chief conductor of the choir has been Maris Sirmais.
