Dobele 2007

The Fifth International Festival-Competition of Chamber Ensembles for Young Performers “We Play Music With Friends” is over. This time we met in Dobele on 1th - 3th of June, 2007. We are grateful to the participants who delighted us with their artistic performance at this musical spring celebration.

The organizers – “We Play Music With Friends” Foundation, Jāzeps Mediņš Music School of Riga and Music School of Dobele – are thankful for financial support to the Culture Capital Foundation, as well as the Municipality of Riga District and the Municipality of Dobele.

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This year 42 chamber ensembles and 68 teachers had applied for the enterprise from Vilnius, StPetersburg, Tartu, Baldone, Dobele, Liepaja Ventspils, Piltene, Limbaži, Roja, Ādaži, Tukums, Vecumnieki, Glūda and five music schools of Riga.

On 2th of June the solemn opening ceremony at the Dobele’s Music School was marked by the ancient sounds of menuet. The competitors were sincerely welcomed by the Honorary Patron of the Festival-Competition Ingūna Rībena, the director of Jāzeps Mediņš Music School Valdis Lastovskis, the director of Music School of Dobele Māra Rozentāle and the artistic director of the Festival, the teacher Gunta Melbārde from Mediņš Music School.

After the tough hours of competition the children went to discover the most beautiful places of Dobele and Tērvete. But the teachers met the judges of the competition. It was very valuable to hear the analysis, formal advices and remarks, as well as grateful words about the children’s musical performances. The professor Gunta Sproģe and her colleagues expressed their gratitude for the competition’s professional development and the enthusiasm of its organizers. The professor Anna Ščerbakova (Moskau) introduced other teachers with their experience; the masterclass of the teacher Egle Čobotiene (Vilnius) took place, too. At the end of the first day there was a silent and memorable moment at the lutheran church of Dobele which was followed by a little concert of chamber music.

Next morning the first concert of the Festival took place in Dobele Culture House. This time children played the barocal and the classical music. The second concert of the Festival took place in the beautiful Dobele`s Garden of Lilac (romantic and  contemporary music).

At the end of this concert the jury congratulated the winners of the competition in Dobeles Music School. We are really thankful to Māra Rozentāle, the director of Music School of Dobele for her great energy and generous help.

The last concert took place at Palace ruin of Dobele (Chamber orchestra of Ziemeļkurzeme; the teacher Indra Sproge). The children sat next to the fire place, ate roasted sausages and the twist of bread and of course played music ...

We are still continuing to receive the reports from our colleagues in Latvija and other countries!    The Festival – Competition was filmed by Solvita Loka, and soon it will be possible to watch the most interesting moments of the Festival on video.

Next year on 3th - 5th of January we have intended to organize three-day masterclasses for children and their teachers and to invite pedagogues of chamber ensembles from Latvian Academy of Music and their foreign colleagues to take part in the workshop.

Looking forward for meeting you in Dobele, the capital city of lilac, on 31 of May – 2 of June, 2008!