From October 23rd to 27th, 2023, at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in collaboration with the Latvian Radio Big Band (LRBB) and music universities from the Baltic and Northern countries, the Erasmus BIP project took place. During the project, preparations were made for the semi-final concert of the fourth big band composition competition.
In the project, musicians from the Trondheim Academy of Music in Norway, the Royal College of Music in Sweden, and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre participated alongside the Head of the Department of Jazz Music, Docent, and recognized artist Pranas Kentra, as well as students from the Popular Music Studies programme Kotryna Juodzevičiūtė (PM23), Saulė Komžaitė (PM23), Juozapas Šopaga (PM22), and Nika Zundelovič (PM22).
Three international student ensembles, together with whom the members of the big band composition competition jury, Pranas Kentra (Lithuania), Raul Sööt (Estonia), and JVLMA Jazz Department guitar instructor Andrejus Jevsiukovas, worked throughout the week, complemented the intensive project. The ensembles prepared musical programmes, which were presented at the “M/Darbnica” jazz club in Riga on the evening of October 26th. Additionally, big band rehearsals took place throughout the week. In the Ziedonis Hall of the National Library of Latvia on October 27th, a joint student big band performed the compositions of ten young composers in the semi-final of the big band composition competition. The participants of the competition were evaluated by an international jury – Helge Sunde (Norway), Peter Danemo (Sweden), Raul Sööt (Estonia), Pranas Kentra (Lithuania), Āriks Ešenvalds (Latvia).
