Choral conductor Māris Sirmais is a prominent figure in his home country, having founded the popular Kamer... Youth Choir. He is also the artistic director of the Latvian State Choir and is a significant educator. Sirmais was born in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Soviet Union, in 1969. He attended the Kunst-Universität Graz in Austria and the Latvian Academy of Music, graduating from the latter in 1992. By that time, he had already founded the Kamer... Youth Choir in 1990; he remained its senior conductor until 2012, making it into an iconic group on the Latvian scene with a completely distinctive sound. Sirmais went on for a master's degree at the Latvian Academy of Music, receiving that in 1996. The following year, he became artistic director of the Latvian State Choir. Sirmais has been active as a conductor with other groups beyond the two that he has led. His international debut came in 2000 when he conducted Arvo Pärt's Te Deum with Sweden's Umea Symphony Orchestra. He has also conducted Kremerata Baltica, the Helsinki Strings, and the Evgeny Svetlanov State Academic Symphony Orchestra in Russia. Leading soloists with whom he has collaborated include violinist Gidon Kremer, violist Maxim Rysanov, and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt. His recording debut came in 2007 when he led the combined Kamer... choir and Latvian State Choir, together with the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, on an album featuring Giya Kancheli's Styx and John Tavener's The Myrrh-Bearer. He has made various recordings with both those choirs; in 2019, he and the Latvian State Choir joined the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra on a recording of Peteris Vasks' Prayer for the Skani label. Sirmais served as chorus master for the complete recording of Mahler's symphonies issued by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Bavarian Radio Chorus in 2022. The following year, he and the Latvian State Choir released the album Credo on the Hyperion label. ~ James Manheim, Rovi