KRISTS AUZNIEKS (born 1992) is a composer whose music combines lyrical intensity and a refined sensitivity to sound with influences drawn from literature, philosophy and theatre. Transformation lies at the heart of his work, reshaping the listener’s perception, experience of time and relationship with the world. The Latvian newspaper Diena has praised the distinctive, shimmering beauty of the present moment captured in his music, while BBC Radio 3 has recognised his extraordinary richness of musical imagination.
Opera and music theatre are central to Auznieks’ artistic practice. His opera Rosa Alchemica, with a libretto by Kārlis Vērdiņš based on a story by W. B. Yeats, will have its world premiere at the Latvian National Opera in 2027. He is also working on Bezgalīgā jūra (As Below, So Above), an opera commissioned for the reopening of the Riga Wagner Theatre in 2028. His previous stage works include the chamber opera Tagadne (Time Present), featuring singer Jānis Šipkēvics, and Apzināšanās (Awareness), a monodrama in Pali created in collaboration with singer Evija Vēbere, the trio Art-i-Shock and visual artist Katrīna Neiburga.
His international music theatre projects include NeoArctic, an opera exploring climate change, created with British electronic musician Andy Stott and featuring a text by Icelandic writer Sjón. Produced by Hotel Pro Forma and the Latvian Radio Choir, it received Denmark’s prestigious Reumert Award and has been presented at the Royal Danish Theatre, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the Southbank Centre in London.
In collaboration with director Ola Mafaalani, Auznieks composed the score for Phaedra in vlammen, a play by Nino Haratischwili staged at the Netherlands’ Het Nationale Theater, with live music performed by the New European Ensemble. The production was selected by the Dutch theatre jury as one of the ten most remarkable productions of the season for the Nederlands Theater Festival 2026. He also composed the music for an adaptation of Olga Tokarczuk’s novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead at the Dailes Theatre in Riga, a production that received the award for Production of the Year.
Auznieks’ concert music has been commissioned and performed by leading ensembles and orchestras, including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Bang on a Can, Kremerata Baltica, Cappella Amsterdam, the Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian National Symphony Orchestras, the Latvian Radio Choir and Sinfonietta Rīga. His works have been heard at some of the world’s foremost concert venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam.
His distinctions include the Latvian Grand Music Award, a prize at the International Rostrum of Composers and the Jacob Druckman Award at the Aspen Music Festival. He has also been an artist-in-residence at Civitella Ranieri and Hermitage Artist Retreat.
Auznieks holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale University and has studied at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. He is Associate Professor and Head of the Composition Department at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. His music is published by Donemus.