Tempus Balticus, founded in 2016, is an ensemble whose repertoire includes a wide range of music by contemporary composers, Baltic music and often Brahms and Beethoven. The ensemble was formed by cellist Māra Botmane, clarinetist Jānis Tretjuks and Estonian pianist Johan Randvere. The musicians of the ensemble are from Latvia and Estonia, so the Baltic Sea region plays a major role in its identity, where the exploration, enhancement and popularisation of academic contemporary chamber music is one of the main objectives of Tempus Balticus.
The friendship between the musicians started already in school days, when the first ideas of creating an ensemble emerged, but there were not enough opportunities to realise them. Each went their own way across Europe until finally, in the summer of 2016, the time finally came for dreams to come true. All the musicians had returned to their home countries and were full of energy to perform. The ensemble gave many concerts in the Baltic States and constantly created new and interesting projects, also performing in collaboration with other musicians.
In 2019, after the unexpected loss of one of the original members, Jānis Tretjuks, the musicians decided to keep the original line-up unchanged – cello and piano – but to bring in a new musician for each concert programme to continue the ideas of the ensemble.
The ensemble often performs in various Baltic countries. One of the most recent and biggest concerts took place in October 2020 at the Riga Great Guild, where Tempus Balticus, violinist Kristīne Balana and singer Ieva Parša met. The last concert in Latvia was with the first oboe of Sinfonietta Riga, Maris Kugis.