The Elīna Granča. Young Baltic Voices program is made possible through a generous donation from the Pēteris Rožlapa family. At the beginning of 2025, the Latvian National Opera and Ballet (LNOB) secured a significant donation from the family of the renowned Latvian scenographer Pēteris Rožlapa (1906-1991).

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Professor Anita Rožlapa (1939-2024) bequeathed her estate to preserve the memory of her father, Pēteris Rožlapa. Anita Rozlapa Revocable Trust (USA) donated funds to LNOB, along with paintings and sculptures created by Pēteris Rožlapa during his time in exile.

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Pēteris Rožlapa began working at the LNOB exactly one hundred years ago as an assistant to the distinguished set and costume designer Ludolfs Liberts. In 1935, due to his exceptional talent, Rožlapa became the opera’s chief set designer, creating monumental decorations and costumes for a range of operas, ballets and operettas. Notable productions for which Rožlapa designed stage costumes include Alfrēds Kalniņš’s opera Baņuta (1937, 1941), Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Aida (1938), Jānis Kalniņš’s ballet Rudens (1938), Jacques Offenbach’s opera Les contes d’Hoffmann (1938), Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Un ballo in maschera (1939), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute (1940), Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake (1941), Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser (1942), Jānis Kalniņš’ opera Hamlet (1943) and Ludwig van Beethoven’s opera Fidelio (1944).

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In 1944, together with his wife Vilma and daughter Anita, Pēteris Rožlapa went into exile, spending the remainder of his life in the United States.

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LNOB expresses its gratitude for the opportunity to honour Pēteris Rožlapa’s legacy by investing the donated funds in the development of a new generation of opera singers.

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Photo : Donor Anita Rožlapa’s parents – Latvian National Opera scenographer Pēteris Rožlapa with his wife Vilma Rožlapa in the 1930s. Photo from the LNOB archive.