Kristina Blaumane

Chair supported by Stuart and Bianca Roden

Kristina Blaumane was born in Riga and graduated from the Latvian Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She has been invited to play as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician around the world.

She has performed as soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, Britten Sinfonia, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Sofia Soloists, Netherlands Wind Ensemble and Dalarna Sinfonietta, as well as all the main orchestras in Latvia.

As a chamber musician she has worked in partnership with such renowned artists as Isaac Stern, Gidon Kremer, Yo-Yo Ma, Yuri Bashmet, Leif Ove Andsnes, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Bruno Giuranna, Misha Maisky, Nikolaj Znaider, Tatyana Grindenko and Oleg Maisenberg, among others, and has performed at festivals such as Lockenhaus, Gstaad, Salzburg, Verbier, Basel, Jerusalem, Utrecht, Spitalfields, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Homecoming and Crescendo.

Kristina is a keen promoter of new music. She has given a number of world premieres and several works are dedicated to her, among them cello concertos by Dobrinka Tabakova, Kristaps Pētersons, Pēteris Plakidis and Artem Vassiliev. Kristina appears as a soloist on the ECM debut disc of composer Dobrinka Tabakova, which reached number 2 in the UK classical charts and received a Grammy nomination.

Kristina has also recorded for the Onyx, Quartz and BMG labels. Kristina is a winner of many awards including the Latvian Philharmonic Young Musician of the Year, the Latvian television competition ‘Alternativa’, Carmel International Competition, Musicians Benevolent Fund and Lord Mayor’s Prize. She is a two-time laureate of the Great Music Award, the highest prize given by the Latvian State in the field of music (2005 & 2007).