2023 AABS Baumanis Grantee Robert Fleitz released his album “The Silent Voice” on November 29.
The album, which was supported by Fleitz’s Baumanis grant, features Fleitz’s performances of seven new compositions by Baltic artists. It is the first solo piano album dedicated to brand-new works written by composers from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Inspired by his studies at the Juilliard School and the Latvian Music Academy, Fleitz sought to complicate prevailing narratives regarding contemporary music in the Baltics by highlighting composers whose compositional language reflects an international sphere of influence while maintaining a perspective unique to their position in their home country.
“The Silent Voice” is available on all major platforms. You can learn more about it on the Latvian Music Information Center site.
Courtesy of SKANI and Robert Fleitz
Through “mesmerizing” and “commanding” performances (The New York Times), pianist and composer Robert Fleitz curates artistic experiences that surprise as often as dazzle. He made his “auspicious debut” (New York Concert Review) in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in October 2021. Known as an “innovative musical thinker,” recent honors include the First Prize in the 2022 John Cage Award in Halberstadt, 2021 Pro Musicis International Award, the Latvian Music Academy Young Artist of the Year Award, the André Boucourechliev Prize in the 2020 International Piano Competition of Orléans, 3rd Prize in the Concorso Marcello Pontillo (Florence).
He recently recorded the album The Silent Voice, released on the Latvian record label SKANI in November 2024. Fleitz is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Music at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, where he is studying the topic of musical hybridity.
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