Projects

In 2011 UNESCO officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day in order to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe. Nowadays Latvian musical environment offers wide range of possibilities for developing qualitative product and bringing it to the world market. There are many high level jazz genre professionals and enthusiasts, jazz community is evolving. The aim of the International Jazz Day Latvia is to show the rich variety and colors of jazz genre in the country as well as give the country and musicians an opportunity to become a part of the international jazz movement.

In 2014 the celebration happened in Riga and Valmiera for the first time with 17 concerts and 142 musicians. In 2015 the jazz was celebrated with 28 concerts in six Latvian cities and Embassy of Latvian Republic in London. In 2016 International Jazz Day Latvia took place for the third time already, with 30 events happening in five Latvian cities.

In 2015 Wise Music Society has launched JAZZin — the first digital jazz music concerts and events guide in Latvia with a possibility to add your own events to it anytime. The aim of this weekly guide is development and popularization of jazz music in Latvia.

In 2013 Wise Music Society team started to organise concerts in “Wise Music events series”, during which they gathered a couple of various bands in cosy locations of Riga. The aim of these events is to help local bands reach new target audience and help listeners to discover new WISE music to listen to. The society intends to continue Wise Music events tradition, once in a while organising thematically, stylistically or otherwise conceptually united concerts dedicated to every WISE musician and listener.

Every year the amount of musicians and groups playing funk music grows, the number of funk music listeners grows as well, so in 2014 Wise Music Society team came up with an idea to gather most famous Latvian bands that compose and play funk music and organise a festival called Riga Funk Fest. In August of 2014 and 2015 the home for the festival was Spikeri square, every year gathering on stage six Latvian and foreign funk bands, stimulating the experience exchange and enriching Latvian cultural environment. Last year the festival was attended by more than 5000 listeners from all over the world, who enjoyed the concert dedicated to the style of music that compiles soul, jazz and R’n’B, filled with such energy and drive that one just can’t stand still.

On October 18, 2013 the first 360 degree immersive video in Latvia is released, filmed for the song of Pieneņu Vīns STOP. The project called #STOP360 was prepared in five weeks and shot in one day on Riga Circus arena, becoming the biggest digital project of the group.

In spring of 2015 Wise Music Society coordinated Latvian part of Songevity 2015 European Tour, organising CA/US/FR musicians Rob Duguay and Alex Terrier a workshop in Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music, concert at Cafe Dali in Spikeri and jam session in the Music Centre.

In 2015 Wise Music Society and Omas Briljants producers group united eight local funk bands in the project “Made in Latvija”. The bands presented their versions of pop/indie songs of Latvian composers who together with music experts and historians evaluated them during weekly concerts in Omas Briljanta istaba. The most interesting versions were awarded and went on-air.