Pianist raised in Latvia returns home with Canadian Armed Forces band

On August 23, a concert titled "The Land We Guard" will take place by the Freedom Monument in Riga, marking the 35th anniversary of the Latvian National Guard. Among the performers will be the Canadian Armed Forces Central Band, a 40-member ensemble that includes Sergeant Nathalie Lerner, a pianist born and raised in Riga who studied at the Emīls Dārziņš Music School before emigrating to Canada with her family in the early 1990s at age 16.

In Canada, Lerner continued her musical education in Ottawa and Montreal, where she earned a doctorate in piano performance. For several years she worked as an organist at a Latvian Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Ottawa. She joined the Canadian Armed Forces band in 2010 after winning a competitive audition and completing basic military training.

An ambassador for Latvia among colleagues

Within the band, Lerner has taught her colleagues polite phrases in Latvian and regularly shares stories about the country's history and traditions, including the Song and Dance Festival. In 2018 the band was invited to Latvia for the first time and took part in the nationwide Song and Dance Festival, marking Lerner's first return home since emigrating. This will be her fourth performance in Latvia and the band's third.

The band has maintained close ties with the Latvian National Guard's own orchestra, and the musicians have jointly celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Latvian army. Sunday's concert will feature both Canadian and Latvian music, including an arrangement by bandmate Mike Letts of the folk song "Kur tu teci, gailīti manu?". A tour of Latvian cities is planned to follow the concert.