Dziedonis

"Dziedonis" is the men's choir of the University of Latvia, founded on April 27, 1924. History The beginnings of the choir can be traced back to January 23, 1924, when the First Latvian Men's Choir Society "Dziedonis" was founded, which on April 27, 1924, when 23 singers performed Alfred Kalniņš's song "Kas tie takdis sikta vīri" under the leadership of conductor Jānis Sieriņš, Male Choir of the University of Latvia "Dziedonis".[1] In 1926, the choir took part in the VI General Latvian Song Festival for the first time. During the Second World War, the choir's activity had slowed down, but thanks to Harald Medni and the long-time choir singers, choir rehearsals were resumed in 1947 for the first time after the war. From 1950 to 1953, the choir was united with the men's choir of the University of Warsaw, but in 1953 the choir split into two parts, creating the Men's Choir of the Central Printing Club "Dziedonis" and the Men's Choir "Tēvzeme". In September 1955, a young conductor - Imants Kokars - started his creative collaboration with the men's choir "Dziedonis". 35 years in the choir's history have been spent under the leadership of Imantas Kokars with the choir's artistic growth and brilliant achievements - victories in Song Festival choir wars in Latvia and international competitions.[2] In 1960, the choir was awarded the honorary title of the People's Choir, and in 1967 it was awarded the honorary title of the Meritorious Collective of the Latvian SSR. In 1995, it became the "Dziedonis" men's choir of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Lithuanian University. In 2014, the choir celebrated its 90th anniversary with a concert in the LU hall. Artistic directors In the history of the choir, its artistic leaders have been several well-known choir conductors in Latviaː 1924—1929 Jānis Sieriņš 1930—1935 Leonid Wigner 1937—1939 Sergej Duks 1940—1952 Haralds Mednis 1953—1954 Edgars Tons 1955—1990 Imants Kokars 1991—1992 Vilmārs Vasulis, Roberts Liepiņš 1993—1998 Juris Vaivods 1999—2003 Talis Weismanis 2004—2015 Roberts Liepiņš 2015-present Uldis Kokars