Imants Kokars (16 August 1921 in

Gulbene Gulbene (; ) is a town in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It is an administrative center of Gulbene Municipality. History Historical documents first mention the 1224 land division act between the Livonian Order, Order of the Sword Brothers and ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

– 24 November 2011 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia) was a Latvian

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. His twin brother Gido Kokars was also a conductor. Imants Kokar has been chief conductor of several

Latvian Song and Dance Festival The Latvian Song and Dance Festival () is one of the largest amateur choral and dancing events in the world, and an important event in Latvians, Latvian culture and social life. As one of the Baltic song festivals, it is also a part of the UNES ...

s and initiated the Nordic-Baltic Choral Festival in 1995. On 12 April 1995 Imants Kokars was awarded the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...

, third class.

References

1921 births 2011 deaths People from Gulbene Latvian conductors (music) Latvian male conductors (music) Soviet conductors (music) Latvian twins Academic staff of Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music People's Artists of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Recipients of the Cross of Recognition {{Latvia-musician-stub