The Latvian sisters described the signing as a ’chance to push boundaries and tell our story through music’
The Balanas Sisters – violinist Kristīne and cellist and conductor Margarita – have signed with Decca Classics.
Executive producer at Decca Classics, Helen Rogers, said of the signing and her first encounter with the sisters: ’I was utterly captivated from the first note – their performance of Vasks’ Castillo Interior had such pristine clarity and deeply moving humanity. Their story is equally impressive, and we are thrilled to welcome these two formidable women to our roster at Decca Classics.’
The Balanas Sisters commented: ‘We’re overjoyed to join the Decca Classics family. This is more than a signing for us; it is a chance to push boundaries and tell our story through music.
’For us, music has always been about freedom and finding our own voice, breaking a few rules, and discovering new ways to connect with people from all over the world. Signing with Decca gives us the chance to reimagine classical music for a new generation - full of energy, playfulness and a vision of what’s ahead.’
The sisters grew up in the small Latvian town of Dobele. Both moved to the UK in their teens, with Margarita winning a full scholarship to study at the Purcell School of Music in Hertfordshire aged 15. The sisters studied then together at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
During the pandemic, Margarita turned her attention to conducting. She was eventually named assistant to Paavo Järvi at the Tonhalle Zürich and she has since founded her own orchestra, Anonimi, in London.
The sisters have performed at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House and London’s Royal Albert Hall, Barbican, Wigmore Hall and Royal Festival Hall. As individual soloists, they have played with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra.
Alongside their brother, Roberts Balanas, they founded Balanas Classical, a platform for imaginative concerts, education projects and masterclasses that brings classical music into new spaces and to the next generation of young musicians.
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