Reinis Zariņš was born in Riga, Latvia in 1985. At the piano since seven, Reinis has studied music and piano performance in J.Mediņš and E.Dārziņš music colleges (Latvia), J.Vītols Latvian Music Academy, and in Yale University School of Music (USA) and Royal Academy of Music, London. As a student, Reinis has garnered first class honours and “Student of the Year” title; as a competitor, he has won top prizes in eleven international competitions, including first prizes in B.Smetana International Competition (Czech Republic), Jaques Samuel Piano Competition (UK), and “Brother and Sister” piano-duo competition in St.Petersburg, (Russia). His main tutors have been Boris Berman, Christopher Elton, Raffi Kharajanyan and Renē Salaks; other formative influences are Claude Frank, Pascal Devoyon, Pierre Boulez, Peter Frankl, Richard Goode, Jesse Levine, Tokyo and Vermeer string quartets.<<cut>>
In Latvia, Reinis performs regularly with all the leading orchestras and as a soloist and chamber musician. His performances are broadcast live on national radio and TV, and in both 2011 and 2012 they received Best-of-the-Year award given by the classical music radio. In 2012 Reinis was awarded the supreme Latvian state award in music – the Great Music Award.
As an international artist, Reinis performs on both sides of the Atlantic, and recently also in South Africa. Exhilarated audiences have heard him as a recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestras in the Baltic States, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Russia, and United States, in such venues as Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Steinway Hall in New York, London’s Wigmore and Steinway halls, and St. Petersburg’s Glazunov Hall. Reinis has been invited to perform in Lucerne Festival, Bath International Music Festival, Yale-Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, MasterWorks, Kremerata Baltica and Norfolk&Norwich Festival (UK), and Holland Music Sessions. He has collaborated with conductors Pablo Heras-Casado, Peter Eötvös, Diego Masson, David Gier, Ariel Zuckermann, Andris Poga, Atvars Lakstīgala and Andris Veismanis, among others. Performances with Pierre Boulez and Ensemble Intercontemporain have strengthened Reinis’ interest in the contemporary repertoire and its relationship with the classics. Besides, Reinis’ view of music as a means of communication has led to several highly-acclaimed conceptual projects.
In 2012 Reinis recorded two albums with Champs Hill Records: Circus & Magic, and a recital of works by the eminent Latvian classicist Jāzeps Vītols.
So far in 2013 Reinis has performed Bartok and Lutoslawski concertos with the Latvian National Symphonic orchestra, collaborated with violinist Kristine Balanas in London Southbank Centre Purcell room and elsewhere, and is yet to return with a Christmas recital to London Wigmore hall and perform recitals and concertos in Germany, UK and Latvia.
Reinis wants to acknowledge the invaluable support he has received from M.Dole, M&D Whyte, E.B.Storrs, Adams family, H.Day, J.Burgess and Yamaha Corporation. Presently, he resides in London with his wife and three children.