With his career reaching the greatest heights of international acclaim, violinist
Gidon Kremer (born in 1947 in Riga, Latvia) was anxious to establish connections with the aspiring younger musicians of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and to share his rich artistic experience with them. In line with this conception, he created the chamber music collective known as the
Kremerata Baltica in 1997; it is an ensemble identified with
Kremer's eclectic and restless exploration of unusual repertory, as well as with fresh interpretations of standard works.
Kremer's initiative has stimulated the independent musical life of the Baltic states, loosening the shackles that dire economic straits have placed on the arts.
The name
Kremerata Baltica is a pun combining the violinist's name with the old designation of a chamber ensemble as a "Camerata"; the group sometimes adopts the unusual capitalization
KREMERata BALTICA in printed materials. The
Kremerata at first consisted of only 23 string musicians and performed its debut program to the audiences of
Kremer's native Riga in February of 1997, on the occasion of his 50th birthday. In addition to works by
Felix Mendelssohn and
Franz Schubert, the orchestra played the music of Baltic composers
Erkki-Sven Tüür (Estonia),
Peteris Vasks (Latvia), and Feliksas Bajoras (Lithuania). The program additionally featured Sutartines, a work that echoes the tragic events of January 1991 in Lithuania by
Kremer's longtime friend
Alfred Schnittke. Professor
Saulius Sondeckis, the well-known conductor and artistic director of the
Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, also conducted the
Kremerata Baltica.
In the summer of 1997, the
Kremerata Baltica played the
Kremer-led Gstaad Festival (Switzerland), the Lockenhaus Festival (Austria), and the Salzburg Festival. The
Kremerata began hosting its own festival in Sigulda, Latvia, in 2003. The
Kremerata Baltica has toured extensively, visiting more than 600 cities across 50 different countries. On these tours, it has had several well-regarded guest conductors, such as
Vladimir Ashkenazy,
Christoph Eschenbach, and
Kent Nagano, among others. It has also performed with many world-class soloists, including
Jessye Norman,
Evgeny Kissin, and
Yo-Yo Ma.
As the 20th century neared its end, the
Kremerata Baltica experienced considerable commercial success with recordings of music by the "holy minimalist" composer
Arvo Pärt and by the tango-classical fusionist
Astor Piazzolla. The
Kremerata has recorded for several labels, including
ECM, Profil, and Nonesuch. It earned an ECHO Klassik award in 2016 for its recording of Shostakovich's piano concertos with soloist
Anna Vinnitskaya. In 2019,
Kremer and the
Kremerata Baltica joined with the
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla on the Deutsche Grammophon album
Weinberg: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 21, which won a Grammy Award the following year. Owing to travel restrictions during the 2020 coronavirus lockdowns, the members of the
Kremerata were unable to meet since so many members lived in different countries. Members living in Latvia gathered together to perform throughout Latvia and Estonia, while members living in Lithuania did the same in that country, giving rise to the offshoot ensembles, Kremerata Lettonica and Kremerata Lithuanica. The full
Kremerata Baltica returned in 2021 with the Sony Classical album Zal: The Music of Miłosz Magin, exploring the music of that little-known composer and teacher. The following year, it issued PPP on the Skani label, featuring the works of
Pēteris Plakidis, Kristaps Pētersons, and
Georgs Pelēcis. ~ TiVo Staff