ASL 2012: Guest Composer, Imant Raminsh

Born in Latvia, composer Imant Raminsh came to Canada in 1948. After completing his ARCT diploma in violin at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto and a Bachelor of Music at the University of Toronto, he spent two years at the “Akademie Mozarteum” in Salzburg, studying composition, violin, and conducting. Imant is the founding conductor of the Prince George Symphony, the Youth Symphony of the Okanagan, NOVA Children’s Choir, and the AURA Chamber Choir.


His compositions are widely performed throughout the world, in venues including Carnegie Hall (New York), Tchaikovsky Hall (Moscow), the Orpheum (Vancouver), Notre Dame de Paris, Canterbury Cathedral, and Santa Marie del Fiore. Imant had his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in 2006 in performance of hisMagnificat and Missa Brevis with a massed choir and orchestra.


In October 2006 Imant was presented with the “Distinguished Visiting Alumnus Medal” by Dean Gage Averill of the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto. He was made an officer of the Three Stars of the Republic of Latvia in 2007. His immense contribution to the arts in the Okanagan was recognized when he received the 2011 Okanagan Music Award.