The Baltic Sisters Release Debut Album

On January 31, the group "The Baltic Sisters" released their debut album "Värav / Vārti / Vartai" (meaning "gates" in Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian), published by the German label CPL-Music. Album launch concerts will take place in all three Baltic countries, including in Latvia on March 29.

The Baltic Sisters is an international traditional music project that originated in late 2022 when singers from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania met at the WOMEX world music expo in Lisbon, Portugal. Initially united by a passion for sutartinės—ancient Lithuanian multipart songs—the group's members have now expanded their repertoire to include Estonian and Latvian folk songs. 

"We are like sisters, sharing our musical heritage—discovering surprising similarities and differences that enrich our experience," emphasize the group members. The Baltic Sisters consists of four singers: Liene Skrebinska and Vineta Romāne from Latvia, Mariona Selgall from Estonia, and Laurita Peleniūte from Lithuania.

The album features multipart folk songs arranged by the group, including a long call from South Kurzeme, the lyrical song "Soka saule rītiedama" from Latgale, Lithuanian sutartinės listed in the UNESCO World Heritage, and Seto songs from Estonia, as well as several pieces intertwining the ethnic music of all three countries. The group members state: "Our first album is like a gateway to the world of traditional music of the Baltic states, as we hear, feel, and convey it. We compiled songs through which we met and got to know each other."

Although the group has existed for just over two years, they have already participated in the most significant traditional music festivals in the Baltics, including Lithuania's ethno-music festival Menuo Juodaragis in 2023, the Valmiermuiža Ethno Music Festival in Latvia in 2024, the Viljandi Folk Music Festival in Estonia in 2024, as well as other events such as the Buskers festival in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. This year, from April 3 to 5, the group will participate in Estonia's largest music industry event, Tallinn Music Week.
The singers also conduct masterclasses in Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian traditional singing, drawing listeners' attention to the most important features of each nation's songs.

As noted by festival and concert organizers, as well as listeners, the group's uniqueness lies in their ability to showcase the commonalities and differences in Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian traditional singing.
The album recordings also feature kokles (Liene Skrebinska), shruti box, drums, clay birds (Laurita Peleniūte), bass guitar, ģīga, percussion, and jaw harp (Gatis Gaujenieks). The album was recorded in Vilnius, Lithuania (sound engineer Tadas Dešukas) and Riga, Latvia (sound engineer Gatis Gaujenieks), mixed and mastered by Gatis Gaujenieks at GEM Plus studio. The album designer is Ieva Vaivaraite-Ošikiene.

The album "Värav / Vārti / Vartai" is available on all music streaming platforms!

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