Imants Kalniņš is a Latvian composer, musician and politician. Having studied classical, as well as choral music, he has written six symphonies, several operas, oratorios, cantatas, choir songs, a lot of movie and theater music. However, he is generally best known for his rock songs and is to be considered the first composer of intellectual rock music in Latvia. During the 1960s, Kalniņš led the Liepājarock band 2xBBM, which was extremely loved because of its heartfelt songs and hippy-like lifestyle. Kalniņš became the symbol of the spirituality, rebellion and worldview of the generation, and it was emphasized by the fact the band was forced to stop playing because of the pressure from official institutions. However, this doesn't stop the music of Kalniņš from being heard - it is played by the incredibly popular band Menuets, which plays songs almost exclusively by Kalniņš. During the 1970s, Kalniņš returned to writing symphonic music. In 1984, he wrote the rockoratorioKā jūra, kā zeme, kā debess together with Juris Kulakovs and Juris Sējāns. The oratorio was the first thing played by the band Pērkons for the general public. With it Kalniņš returned to rock and roll once more. He wrote many new songs for Pērkons, and these same songs led him to start his own band, Turaidas Roze. However, the band never gained the recognition and adoration that Menuets and Pērkons did. During the third awakening of the Latvian people, when Latvia regained independence, Kalniņš took part actively in Tautas Frontepolitical organization, which played the most important part in ending Latvia's occupation by the USSR. The festival most associated with Kalniņš is the Imantdienas, extremely popular during the Soviet times and therefore banned. The tradition was reintroduced in 1995, and since then has happened every year. It has remained at least as popular as before. Lately Imants Kalniņš has been working together with the well-known Latvian musician Ainars Mielavs, and their collaboration has resulted in some of the most excellent albums containing primarily music by Kalniņš, such as Par lietām, kas tā ar' nekad nepāriet , Es redzēju sapnī and I Love You. In 2000, music for the 1973 moviePūt, vējiņi was re-recorded by the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra as well as many recognized singers. Kalniņš also composed the song "Pilsētā, kurā piedzimst vējš", the anthem of Liepāja. Imants Kalniņš has been one of the most loved composers in Latvian music for the past half-century, and his phenomenon is showing no sign of fading. He is also a politician, member of the 8th and 9th Saeima for For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK. In April 2015, Kalniņš was reported to have converted Islam by some outlets, but Kalniņš himself has later refuted these claims..
Private life
Kalniņš was married to the actor Helga Dancberga who died in 2019. They had three children, Dana Kalniņa-Zaķe who became the lead for the Latvian Association of Professional Health Care Chaplains, actress Rezija Kalniņa and Krists Kalniņš who is a pastor.
