Arvīds Norītis

1902-1981
Violin player, teacher, conductor

Arvids Noritis was born on 24 December 1902 in Riga into the family of shoemaker Eduards Noritis (Eduards Norītis) and seamstress Emilija Norite (Emīlija Norīte, née Riņķe), where music was held in high esteem. The family were newcomers to Riga and lived in a basement apartment on the corner of Elizabetes and Baznicas Street where his father had set up a workshop. At the age of four, Arvids learnt to play the harmonica and the zither. He began to study the violin at the age of seven, first privately with his teacher M. Branta, and later at the Gustavs Gizitskis Music School where he gave his first public performance a year later. Arvids was considered a child prodigy. In 1912, aged only 10, he entered Gustavs Paine First Music Institute in Riga where the violin class was led by an Italian-born musician Edmundo Lucini. The difficult living conditions forced Noritis to start working as an independent musician in the cinemas of Riga early on: first at “Kolizejs”, then at “Aquarium”, and work continued throughout the years of the First World War. Living conditions were complicated by the death of his father in the typhus epidemic of 1918.

In 1919 Noritis entered the newly founded Latvian Conservatory, continuing his studies in the class of Lucini, and three years later, in 1921, he graduated from the conservatory as the first and only graduate of that year. During his studies he became the leading violinist in the Conservatoire's string quartet. From 1920 to 1922 he also played in the orchestra of the Latvian National Opera (LNO). Thanks to the excellent recommendation of Janis Zalitis (Jānis Zālītis), the director of the LNO at the time, the Culture Foundation granted the talented violinist a scholarship to study in Berlin with Gustav Havemann. After returning to Riga in 1923, Noritis gave his first solo concert which was followed by many others. In 1924, he once again received support from the Latvian Culture Foundation and studied with the famous French violin teacher Lucien Capet in Paris.

When the Latvian Radiophone began broadcasting in November 1925, Noritis was entrusted with the responsibility of performing the broadcasts. The Latvian String Quartet was founded. When a small orchestra was formed at the Radiophone, Noritis became its first concertmaster.

In 1926, he married Milda Veidenbauma, a singer, prompter and assistant director at the Latvian National Opera. Looking for new career opportunities, Noritis formed a trio with cellist E. Berzinskis (Ē. Berzinskis) and pianist Vilis Ilsters. In August 1928, they travelled to Australia where the chamber ensemble played on local radio. After successful concerts in Sydney and Adelaide, Noritis became a concertmaster in the Melbourne State Theatre Symphony Orchestra and appeared as a soloist in various concerts.

In 1931, at the onset of the world economic crisis of the 1930s and because of family circumstances, the artist moved back to Latvia. He first worked as a concertmaster in the Kaunas Opera Orchestra and as a teacher at the Lithuanian Conservatoire; in Latvia, he played in the symphonic jazz orchestra “La Si Do”, which played at the café “Maskotte” and in the concert garden "Jar" (1932), and also taught violin lessons at the People's Conservatoire and the First Music Institute. The family of Arvids and Milda grew during this time – their sons Ilmars (Ilmārs) and Uldis were born.