IT’S eight o’clock at the Taurenitis School in Jurmala, a resort town some 25km west of Riga. 78 children, half of the school’s total number, have assembled for their twice-weekly choir practice. Sitting with their backs straight, and giving the conductor their full attention, they rehearse Latvian folk songs—as do children in ordinary state schools across Latvia every week. This early choir drilling has turned Latvia into the superpower of choral singing.
