Maris Sirmais has been artistic director and conductor of the Latvian State Choir Latvija since 1997. In 1998, he assumed the post of artistic director of the International Festival of Sacred Music. Under his direction the Latvian State Choir has developed into an internationally recognized ensemble. Sirmais studied at the Latvian Music Academy (he has an MA degree in choral conducting) and continued his orchestral conducting studies in 2000 at the university in Graz, Austria. In 1990, he founded the youth choir Kamer… in Riga and since 1998 has been principal conductor of the Latvian Singing Festival. He made his international debut in the summer of 2000 conducting Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum in Umea, Sweden with the Umea Symphony Orchestra. His repertoire ranges from works by Gounod, Dvorak, and Bruckner to religious compositions by Messiaen, Bernstein, and Gorecki, but also includes Latvian composers such as Vasks, Einfelde, and Maskats.