Imants Kalniņš

Imants Kalniņš (born 26 May 1941) is a Latvian composer, musician and politician. Having studied classical and choral music, he has written seven symphonies, several operas (including the first rock opera in the USSR, ), oratorios, cantatas, choir songs, a lot of movie and theater music. However, he is generally best known for his rock songs. In 2021, Kalniņš received the Grand Music Award for lifetime achievement. Furthermore, he served as a member of the 5th, 7th, 8th, and 9th sitting of the Saeima, the parliament of Latvia, from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1998 through 2010, representing the For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK party. Life and career Kalniņš was born 26 May 1941 in Riga, Latvian SSR. During the 1960s, Kalniņš led the Liepāja rock band 2xBBM, which was extremely loved because of its heartfelt songs and hippy-like lifestyle. Kalniņš became the symbol of the spirituality, rebellion and worldview of the generation, and it was emphasized by the fact the band was forced to stop playing because of the pressure from official institutions. However, this did not stop the music of Kalniņš from being played by the extremely popular band , which almost exclusively plays songs wri