In July, everyone is invited to experience peaceful summer evenings in three churches of our municipality, where the concert programme “Laudate Dominum” will be performed. Latvian composers’ works will be presented by clarinettist Alise Gavare and organist Aigars Raumanis, quite possibly touching listeners with their depth, beauty and emotional power.

The concerts will take place:

• on 16 July at 6:00 p.m. at Smiltene Evangelical Lutheran Church,
• on 18 July at 9:00 p.m. at Drusti Evangelical Lutheran Church,
• on 19 July at 5:00 p.m. at Rauna Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The concerts will feature the most beautiful works by outstanding Latvian composers whose anniversaries are celebrated this year — Imants Zemzaris, Pēteris Vasks and Pauls Dambis. Works by Rihards Dubra, Uģis Prauliņš, Alfrēds Kalniņš, Ādolfs Skulte, Ēriks Ešenvalds (“Laudate Dominum”) and Emīls Dārziņš (“Melancholic Waltz”) will also be performed.

Admission is by donation, with proceeds going towards the restoration and repair needs of the churches — supporting the repair of the Smiltene church clock, the repair of the Drusti church roof, and the repair of the Rauna church tower.

The idea for these concerts originated in Drusti — inspired by Ruta Butlere, a long-standing member of the Drusti congregation and the grandmother of clarinettist Alise Gavare, who, together with her husband Jānis Butlers, is celebrating beautiful anniversaries this year — 85 and 90 years. The concerts are a heartfelt tribute to the place, the people and the values that unite generations.

Alise Gavare is a clarinettist and a laureate of several international competitions. She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Basel Academy of Music, in Professor François Benda’s clarinet class. She has received several awards and scholarships for excellence in music. Alise currently performs with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, and also takes part in international orchestra projects.
Aigars Raumanis, meanwhile, is one of the most outstanding Latvian saxophonists of the younger generation, and a laureate of several international competitions and prestigious music awards. He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in saxophone performance at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, has also studied in Helsinki and Strasbourg, and is currently continuing his studies in a professional doctoral programme. In 2025, Aigars was an artist-in-residence at Latvian Radio.

The project has been created in cooperation with the Drusti Congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia and its leader Ieva Lejmalniece, thanks to financial support from Smiltene Municipality through the project competition for cultural, socially significant and educational activities. Within the competition, the initiative “Latvian Music in Churches” was supported, with the aim of promoting Latvian music and improving access to culture.

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Written by: Alise Gavare and Linda Fronta, Communications Specialist