Jēkabs Ozoliņš
1945
Conductor, educator, arranger
Born on 4 December 1945 in Grobiņa, Liepāja District. Attended Grobiņa elementary school, graduated from Liepāja’s Music secondary school (1965) and studied at the Leningrad State Conservatory, where he graduated from the conducting class of Nikolay Romanovsky (1973).
All of the musician’s activity is associated with Liepāja. Significantly galvanised and directed the musical scene in Liepāja and the whole of the Kurzeme region, organising festivals and concerts, directing choirs and orchestras. Long-time conductor of the Liepāja Secondary School No 1 mixed choir (since 1981), the Nīca male choir (since 1983), the Laiks (Time) and Līva mixed choirs (since 1976). The choirs perform regularly in concerts, festivals and competitions in Latvia and abroad.
Ozoliņš admits that, alongside his passion for conducting choirs and symphony orchestras, he has had a similar appetite for jazz music since his military service. He was the leader of Neptūns, the Liepāja jazz group (1973-1988), has been conductor of the Liepāja Big Band since 2000, and founder and artistic director of the Aile Jazz Liepāja International Jazz Festival (2006-2008). He has arranged many pieces of music, greatly enriching the range of Latvian jazz musical instrumentations.
He has worked with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra since its foundation (1987), initially supplementing the ranks of French horn players and later becoming its conductor. During this time, conducted many symphonic and popular music concerts, including co-operation with Latvian rock groups Credo, Līvi, Tumsa and Remix. Staged concerts of music by Raimond Pauls and Uldis Marhilēvičs, concerts he has organised for children have gained public recognition.
A chief conductor at the XXIst-XXIVth All-Latvian Song Festivals, Honorary chief conductor at the XXVth-XXVIIth All-Latvian Song Festivals, Member of the Artistic Council for the XXIInd Song Festival, chief conductor of Liepāja city and district choirs (since 1990), artistic director of several Kurzeme region song festivals. After the Celebration of Song concluding concert of the XXIInd Song Festival, the conductor shared his thoughts: “In fact, you don’t actually see the faces, just a sea of faces. For a moment, you worry whether they will be able to respond to your hand gesture. They can! They respond to every tiny movement, there is absolutely no need for ferocious waves. It is a unique feeling. Just being on this stage, this murmuring, when all around you hear and feel: ‘buzz, buzz, buzz’... Then silence descends, and the choir responds to your hand gesture. Shivers run down your spine. Here we are, all together, ready to do service to the song.” (Imbovica, Indra. Jēkabs Ozoliņš – a chief conductor of the great Song Festival), Kurzemesvards.lv, 11 July 1998)
Awarded the Order of the Three Stars (2005) and received the title of Honorary Citizen of Liepāja (2015). On January 20th, 2024, he received the first "Kormūzikas balva" Award for Lifetime Contribution.
