Organist, music teacher (1882-1978). Nikolajs Vanadziņs was born on December 11, 1892 in Valka district in a Trikata forester family. He was mad on and and fascinated with music since early childhood. He received his primary education in Nicolas Gymnasium in Riga, after graduation of which a young man decided to devote his entire life to music. In 1911 N. Vanadziņs went to Saint Petersburg, and there he was preparing for entrance examination in the Conservatory. In order to earn necessary means for living, he worked as both a pianist in the cinema and a tutor. In 1913 N. Vanadziņs entered the St. Petersburg State Conservatory and studied organ play in the class of the Professor Jacques Handschin. Already during the academic years N. Vanadziņs performed in concerts and sometimes replaced his teacher playing the church organ. In 1917 Nikolajs Vanadziņs graduated from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory and began work in three areas: theatre, pedagogy and concert performance. Since 1920 he was a teacher in organ play in the Petrograd Conservatory.
In 1923 the rector of the Latvian Conservatory Jazeps Vitols invited N. Vanadziņs to Latvia and offered him a job as a director in Daugavpils in the newly established Latgale National Conservatory (now Daugavpils Music Secondary School). N.Vanadziņš agreed and went to Daugavpils to start an active musical work. Nikolajs Vanadziņš was in continious worries during the first two years, and his normal existence to the first Educational Institution of Music in Latgale was provided and firm foundations for music education system were laid. He involved in a work of a teacher good professionals from Latvia – violinist Pauls Krumins, cellist Peteris Komisars, vocalists Jekabs Karps, Gabriela Viksna and others. Beyond the director’s duties Nikolajs Vanadziņs himself led a piano class, but after a few years he built the School of Organists nearby the Conservatory, where studied many organists of Latgale. Beyond teaching at the Conservatory, he paid a lot of attention to develop city-wide concert work, involving teachers and students in that, as well as inviting artists from Riga and abroad. During the years spent in Daugavpils N. Vanadziņs showed his skills of a teacher, music life organizer and artist-performer, bringing to the city a new breath of cultural life, but his greatest merit was the establishment of the professional music education system.
After six productive years in Daugavpils N. Vanadziņs moved to Riga in 1929, where he led the National Conservatory (now Jazeps Medins Music School), and in this place he worked until 1956.
In parallel with work of a director and teacher N. Vanadziņs performed the duties of the director of the National Opera from 1934 to 1936.
In 1938 he changed his work to the work in the Latvian Conservatory, where he led an organ class and worked as a teacher until his retirement in the middle of 70 years.
N. Vanadziņs gave an education to a new talented Latvian organist generation and created a stable Latvian Organ School. As the brightest of his pupils Peteris Sipolnieks, Olgerts Cimdins, Jevgenija Lisicina, Larisa Bulava and many others can be mentioned.
N. Vanadziņs himself actively gave concerts in Riga and beyond the borders of Latvia being 40-50 year old. He was an outstanding interpreter of classics of organ music, he deeply understood a musical style of every composer of organ.
The life of Nikolajs Vanadziņs ended on August 23, 1978.
Connection with Daugavpils:
He was the founder and the first director of Daugavpils Music Secondary School (Latgale National Conservatory)