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| Central Military Band of the Latvian National Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
| Military Band | |
 | |
| Native name | Latvijas Nacionālo bruņoto spēku Centrālais militārais orķestris |
| Short name | NAF Staff Band |
| Founded | 21 December 1991 |
| Location | Riga, Latvia |
| Principal conductor | Dainis Vuskans [1] |
The Central Military Band of the Latvian National Armed Forces also known as the NAF Staff Band is the central military band of the Latvian National Armed Forces Staff Battalion. It is the largest military band in Latvia.
On February 6, 1919, Captain Ludvigs Bolšteins, commander of the newly formed Latvian Army ordered company No.11 of the Latvian Army to form a band composed of 11 volunteers. This was considered the first military band of independent Latvia. As the country regained its independence in December 1991, a group of military musicians with years of experience in various Soviet military bands reestablished the original Latvian band as part of the Staff Battalion and was based on the organizational structure of the Headquarters Staff Band of the Baltic Military District which operated during the long Soviet occupation. Dainis Vuskans, a Soviet musician of Latvian ethnicity, who at the time served as the conductor of the Soviet Army's 11th Band in Kaliningrad, was immediately invited to become the band's first conductor. [2] On January 3, 1992, the band made its first performance at the Latvian War Museum. Since then, the band has grown into a professional group of military musicians.
It has taken part in receptions for Bill Clinton and the Pope in Riga. Foreign conductors have contributed to the development of the band. The NAF Staff band has represented Latvia in several international brass band festivals in many European countries such as Lithuania, Italy, and Belgium. [3] On September 15, 2009, the band joined the Latvian National Armed Forces Staff Battalion. [4] [5] [6]
The main purposes of the band are to:
Several foreign conductors have contributed to the professional growth of the band with concerts prepared and conducted by bandmasters from different countries.
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the Baltic states; and is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi), with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian, one of the only two surviving Baltic languages. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population.
The Latvian National Armed Forces, or NBS, are the armed forces of Latvia. Latvia's defense concept is based on a mobile professional rapid response force and reserve segment that can be called upon relatively fast for mobilization should the need arise. The National Armed Forces consists of Land Forces, Naval Forces, Air Force and National Guard. Its main tasks are to protect the territory of the State; participate in international military operations; and to prevent threats to national security.
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The guerrilla war in the Baltic states was an armed struggle which was waged by the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian partisans. Called the Forest Brothers, they fought the Soviet Union during the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states both during and after World War II. Similar anti-Soviet Central and Eastern European resistance groups fought against Soviet and communist rule in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and western Ukraine.
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