Normunds Šne was born in 1960 into a family with strong and old musical traditions. Despite this, he was no infant prodegy for whom everything in music came easily. He first studied violin with his father, without a great deal of success. Later he changed from violin to viola and then to oboe. Together with his studies at the Latvian Academy of Music under Professor Vilnis Pelnens, he spent his late teens and twenties with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra.
In 1986 he studied chamber music with Professor Tamara Fidler (St. Petersburg Conservatory) and in 1993 with Heinz Holliger in Bern.
He has gained recognition as an oboist in several national and Baltic region competitions.
His musical talent has always been very versatile. From his teens for more then ten years he was also a sound engineer, guitar player and oboist of various Latvian rock and new age groups - Salve, Marana, Sipoli etc. He was also an informed jazz listener and had followed ECM's directions from the middle 1970s. He won the 1st prize in the World Championship of the radio amateur communications in May 1980. In 1987 Normunds, together with pianist Janis Maleckis, formed an orchestra, the Riga Chamber Players, and at the present time is the Artistic Director of this internationally-renowned musical organization. He seriously started his conducting career in 1995 with his studies with Professor Yuri Simonov in Budapest and Miskolc, and Professor Imants Resnis in Riga. From 1993 Normunds changed his status in the LNSO - he took the post of assistant - and from 1996 to 1998 he was the conductor of the Latvian National Symphony. From 1997 to 1999 he was the Guest Conductor of City of Liepaja Symphony Orchestra. He also conducted the Latvian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra during its tour in Switzerland and France in October 1993. In 1998 he made his debut in the Latvian National Opera with N. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade, after which Normunds was invited regularly. In the 1999 season he was Music Director in the production of Mozart's Don Giovanni and in April 2000 he conducted the world premiere of the Latvian composer Juris Karlson's ballet The Silver Veil. In July 1998 he made his debut with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra and was invited again for the 1999 season. Several times he performed with the Ostrobothnian Orchestra - both as a soloist and conductor. With Riga Chamber Players Normunds made his London debut at St. John's, Smith Square in September 1999 with the first London performance of works by Vasks, Maskats, Gorecki and Metcalf.
There are two main trends in Normunds' interests and repertoire: on the one hand the Baroque and Vienna classics, and on the other, the great composers of the 20th century - Mahler, Berg, Bartok, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Lutoslawski, Berio, Lindberg, Reich, as well as Latvia's Vasks, Plakidis, Maskats, Kronlaks. In Spring 1999, with support from Latvia Universal Bank, he started new project – Riga Festival Orchestra. It performs twice a year, playing masterpieces of the 20th century. The first concert was played on March 20th, 1999 and included G. Mahler’s 9th Symphony in the program. In Autumn '99 Tatyana Grindenko joined the RFO. The real success came with the third concert in March 2000 - there were standing ovations after Luciano Berio' Sinfonia (together with Latvian Radio Choir) and Peteris Vasks' 2nd Symphony. Normunds' skills as an orchestra-builder is established and recognized by such musicians as Mstislav Rostropovich, Juha Kangas, Tatyana Grindenko, Terje Rypdal ("From the very first rehearsal I found it very easy to work with Normunds Sne. He seemed to know all the right tempo nuances, all the right fermatas and so on..."). He can spent lot of time at the rehearsals and his pursuit of perfection in performance is indefatigable.
Together with the Riga Chamber Players and the Riga Festival Orchestra, Normunds has recorded CDs for the BIS and ECM labels, including works of Terje Rypdal and the Latvian composer Arturs Maskats. He has performed as a conductor and oboist in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Russia, The Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom etc. He has successfully collaborated with among others Gidon Kremer, Nikolai Petrov, Truls O'Mjork, Lasar and Pavel Berman, Natalie Gutman, Valdis Zarins, Stanislav Igolinsky, Craig Ogden and Marko Ylönen.
Four times (1993,1994,1996,1998) he and his orchestra was awarded the Great Music Prize of Latvia. In 1999 Normunds Šne was awarded the prestigious Spidola prize - the highest award in Latvia in the field of arts and science.
- ‘It goes without saying that the performance of Riga Chamber Players guarantees genuine artistic quality, and even more so it is devoid of rusty, dispassionate routine of professionals. The orchestra and its artistic director Normunds Šne lends new brilliance to the values of classical music.’
- Diena, 10.04.1995
- ‘I do believe that Normunds Šne is a conductor endowed with a particular gift.’
- Mstislav Rostropovich Diena, 14.03.1996
- ‘The interpretation of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony did not lack either ardour or creative tension. The presence of style had a special appeal.’
- Literatura.Maksla.Mes., 6.06.1996
- '…all this gave the concert an air of significance as it always happens whenever the conductor is Normunds Šne. His well-known rationalism is not so impassive after all and the internal life of music in Haydn’s Symphony No.101 is intensive in its beat.’
- Literatura.Maksla.Mes., 19.09.1996
- ‘Only a few of the symphonic recitals in Riga could be defined as An Event. Beethoven’s Third Symphony performed by Riga Chamber Players and Normunds Šne turned out to be a master class in music. It can be definitely ascertained that a better Beethoven had never been heard by any audience of Riga.’
- Diena, 7.02.1995
- ’…then came the sea change. Back on stage, the players found their heart and soul with Vasks’ Musica Dolorosa. This was a work they have in their bones, and you could feel the tension and temperature rise as the strings’ haunting and sorrowful gestures shifted and coalesced. Maskats’ Concerto Grosso Šne’ forces set to with fire and lustre. We should hear these players again.’
- Geoff Brown, The Times, 10.09.1999
For further details, see Normunds Šne