Honorary Professor of Belarusian State Academy of Music
Latvian performer (saxophone), teacher. Professor. Rector of Latvian Academy of Music named after J.Vitos (2007-2017).
Born in 1958. Graduated from Leningrad State Conservatory named after N.Rimsky-Korsakov, saxophone class under Professor A.Bolshiyanov (1986). In 1994, he received a soloist diploma from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in saxophone class under Professor J. Bove (1994), and in 1995, a master’s degree from the Latvian Academy of Music named after J. Vitols.
Later, he improved his performing skills with Jean-Pierre Baraglioli at the National School of Music in Paris, Christer Johnson at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Johannes Ernst at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, Johann van der Linden at the Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands. A. Simanis is the founder of the Riga Saxophone Quartet (1992) and the artistic director of the International Saxophone Music Festival “Saxophonia”, which has been held regularly since 1999.
The musician has vast performing experience in a variety of genres. He has performed with the Latvian Radio Jazz Orchestra, in Pete Anderson’s rock-n-roll band “Archives”, as a soloist and ensemble player in the Riga Saxophone Quartet, collaborated with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and the Latvian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Danish Saxophone Quartet, and the Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.
Since 2005, A. Simanis has been actively performing with organist Kristina Adamaite. During this time, they have performed concerts and master classes in European countries, the USA and Canada.
Awards:
Discography:
Informational and additional sources:
web-site of the Latvian Academy of Music named after J. Vitols
