Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music

Latvian Conservatory of Music was founded in 1919 by the Latvian composer Jāzeps Vītols, who also became the first director of the Latvian National Opera. He remained director until 1944, excepting 1935-1937 when the director was his choral assistant Pauls Jozuus. There were junior and senior courses that covered around 9 to 10 academic years. Beginning in 1940, the structure of the conservatory changed: the lower junior courses were transferred in secondary education system and later became a base for Jāzeps Mediņš's and Emīls Dārziņš's secondary schools of music. And there formed up courses of higher school in the conservatory. Beginning 1 October 1951 LPSR Institute of Theater was joined to the conservatory, reorganizing it to a faculty of theater with departments of acting and directing. In May 1958 it was renamed to the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian conservatory. In January 1964 conservatory had been renamed to J.Vītols Latvian institute of Art, but in July 1964 institute was renamed back to J.Vītols Latvian conservatory

During nearly a hundred years of its existence Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music has enriched Latvian culture with many excellent composers, performers and music theory specialists. We are the only specialized academic music institution in our country and we are responsible for the traditions and the future development of our Academy.

Highly professional environment of Latvian music business has been shaped by excellent professors and talented students of Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. They are listened to and recognized in Latvia and abroad.

We are proud of our achievements and we believe it is a great honor to work and study in Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. We invite to join us those, who feel certain they are able to achieve and maintain the high academic and professional standards of our Academy. We believe in the great importance of the quality of studies - alongside professional training in performance, choreography, musicology and composition we encourage our students to think, analyze and evaluate independently. We are creative, democratic and open to Latvian and international musical values.

We offer professional undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and academic postgraduate programmes in music performance, conducting, composition, music science, music pedagogy and choreography. Doctoral level studies are available in the field of history and theory of music. Scientific research and artistic creativity are the cornerstones of all professional and academic study programmes.

The main goals of the Latvian Academy of Music are to provide studies of exceptional quality in subjects of music, choreography and education sciences, humanitarian and social sciences; to conduct research projects in arts sciences; to encourage artistic creativity of the young musicians. Academy supports further education and cooperates as independent entity with foreign institutions for arts and education. Academy has the legal status of a derived public entity; it has its own emblem and flag. JVLMA is under supervision of Latvian Ministry of Culture.