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The Latvian soprano, Baiba Urka, studied choral conducting at Rezekne`s Music High School and at the Latvian Academy of Music (2004-2008). She holds a Masters degree in Early Music Singing from the Latvian Academy of music and another Masters degree in Early Music - Chamber Music Singing from the Musikhochschule Trossingen, Germany (2015-). In 2018 she started a Soloist Performance Postgraduate Program in Early Music Singing also at the Musikhochschule Trossingen and the AVES (Advanced Vocal Ensemble Singing) program at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (2019-). As an Erasmus exchange student she spent one year in Portugal at the ESMAE (Oporto). She received the Beca Bach 2018 scholarship from the Bach Zum Mitsingen Association, which allowed her to perform J.S. Bach vocal music as a soloist at several concert halls in the city of Barcelona. In 2019 she was awarded with the HfM Trossingen ¨DAAD - Preis¨. She studied singing with Gundula Anders and Deborah York, vocal ensemble with Jan van Elsacker, Paul Agnew, Björn Schmelzer and Stratton Bull and took master-classes with Raquel Andueza and Carlos Mena.
Specialized in Baroque and Renaissance singing, Baiba Urka has performed both as a soloist or with numerous ensembles such as La Capella Reial de Catalunya (Director: Jordi Savall), Jove Capella Reial de Catalunya, Vox Luminis (Director: Lionel Meunier), Vocalensemble Rastatt (Director: Holger Speck), Ensemble Pretiosa, Arte Minima, Collegium Choro Musici Riga, Latvian Radio Choir (Director: Sigvards Kļava), Ensemble Putni, Tenso Europe Chamber Choir (since 2015), La Cetra Barockorchester Basel (Director: Andrea Marcon) or Chor der J.S. Bach-Stiftung St. Gallen (Director: Rudolf Lutz). She worked with Jordi Savall, Holger Speck, Andrea Marcon, Kaspars Putniņš and Lionel Meunier, among other directors, in countries like Latvia, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France or Portugal. She recently performed the roles of Thetis, Pallas and Proserpina in Schürmann’s opera Die Getreue Alceste under the direction of Christina Pluhar. She currently lives in Tiefenbronn. |
