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1. Krists Auznieks has been praised for his “exhilarating… stunning… luminous” music (San Francisco Classical Voice) and recognized for his “astonishing complexity and beauty” (Broadwayworld), “extraordinarily imaginative writing” (BBC Radio 3), and “old-fashioned elegance” (Herald Tribune). His quintet Piano was featured in The New York Times among the week’s best classical music moments. Auznieks is the youngest composer to receive the Latvian Grand Music Award and a recipient of the Aspen Music Festival’s Jacob Druckman Prize and the International Rostrum of Composers Award (2021). In 2021, he was named Person of the Year in Latvian Culture. He has also received the Richard Wagner scholarship and fellowships from the Hermitage Artist Retreat and Civitella Ranieri.

   Auznieks has been commissioned by notable ensembles and festivals, including the Atlanta Symphony, Aspen and Norfolk festivals, American Composers Orchestra, MATA, Bang on a Can, Swedish Radio, Kremerata Baltica, Cappella Amsterdam, Latvian Radio Choir, and Sinfonietta Riga. In the 2022/23 season, he served as the resident composer with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. His music has been performed at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Royal Danish Theatre, Beijing National Arts Centre, Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw, The Southbank Centre, and National Sawdust, among many others.

   Currently, Auznieks is working on two operas: one for the Latvian National Opera and another for the renewed Riga Wagner House. In 2025, he will collaborate with Dutch director Ola Mafalaani on two theatre plays for Daile Theatre in Riga and the Dutch National Theatre.

   He earned his Doctorate from the Yale School of Music and has served on the faculties of Yale, Montclair State University, and the Latvian Academy of Music, where he is currently Associate Professor and chairman of the Music Technology department. He also chairs the Latvian Composers Union and has taught for the New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers Program.