Biography
Dzintars, the Latvian choral ensemble, has carried the folk songs of the Balkan Mountains onto an international platform. Its 76 female voices, led by Imants Cepitis and Ausma Derkevica, sustain an engaging blend of traditional and contemporary Latvian repertoire. The name Dzintars, rendered in English as "amber" (the highly prized fossilized pine used in necklaces, bracelets and rings), has been accompanied by multiple distinctions, including the Gold Diploma awarded at Hungary's Bartok Competition in 1968 and the Netherlands' Grand Prix in 1977. The 1990 album Songs of Amber: Dzintars: The Latvian was captured during the group's 1989 U.S. tour at George Lucas' Skywalker Studios in northern California and produced by Mickey Hart and Jerry Garcia. Alongside Latvian folk selections that feature the freedom anthem "Blow, Wind, Blow," the recording presents three Yiddish folk songs ("Sleep, My Child"; "Di Raike"; and "Oi Hanuke") and the modern Russian composition "So Silent Is the Ukrainian Night."
Albums