The Riga Saxophone Quartet made its promising debut in 1992 which, in effect launched a new era of academic saxophone music in Latvia. This was also the time when Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music opened a saxophone programme. The current members have been together since 2013. The only remaining original member is the quartet’s founder, Artis Sīmanis.

The Riga Saxophone Quartet performs frequently not only in concert halls, but also in schools and open air concerts. The Quartet has earned wide acclaim from its audiences and from highly critical connoisseurs; it has focused on a democratic repertoire which is stylistically appealing, and has reached the highest level of technical mastery and exquisite attention to subtle detail. The Quartet has also contributed to breaking the stereotype of saxophone as a pure jazz instrument.

This becomes evident in their wide-ranging repertoire that includes transcriptions of classics by Johann Sebastian Bach, Handel, and Mozart on the one hand, and original 20th and 21st-century works by Andrew Poppy, Carleton Macy or Philip Glass, amongst others. There is a third dimension as well, associated with rhythms and lyrical melodies, inspiring associations from all over the world. And even a fourth dimension: arrangements and original masterpieces by world-renowned jazz composers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, and others.

An important part of the Riga Saxophone Quartet’s creative efforts is devoted to works by Latvian composers written especially for this ensemble including Rihards Dubra, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Nic Gotham, Rihards Zaļupe, and others.

The Riga Saxophone Quartet has performed together with the National Choir Latvija, National Symphonic Orchestra, Professional Symphonic Band Riga and with other orchestras. Programmes have been created in partnership with notable Latvian and foreign soloists.

During more than two decades of concerts, the Riga Saxophone Quartet has performed in more than 20 countries. The Quartet has participated in internationally acclaimed music festivals such as Probaltica (Poland), Jazz Kaar (Estonia), Upbeat (Norway and Sweden), and the World Saxophone Congresses in Montreal, Ljubljana and St Andrews in Scotland.

For its active and dynamic concerts and high level of artistry, the Riga Saxophone Quartet received the Latvian Grand Music Award in 1999, the highest award for music in Latvia.

The Riga Saxophone Quartet is the central axis for the International Saxophone Music Festival Saxophonia, held every other year in Latvia since 1999.