Professor, Piano Department
Ventis Zilberts studied at the Pāvuls Jurjāns Music School (teachers: Valda Kalniņa, Šmarions Valdšteins, Zigrīda Āboliņa) and the Emīls Dārziņš Specialized Music Secondary School, graduating in 1966 (class of Prof. Igors Kalniņš). He completed his piano studies at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian State Conservatory under Prof. Igors Kalniņš in 1971. In 1973, he graduated from the assistantship program at the Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Leningrad State Conservatory (class of Prof. Nathan Perelman).
In 1974, he began working at the Piano Department of the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian State Conservatory. Since 1998, he has been a professor of both the Piano Department and the Department of Chamber Ensemble and Piano Accompaniment. More than 100 pianists have graduated from his class in both departments, including lecturers at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music: Inguna Puriņa, Vita Vēriņa, Normunds Vīksne, Mārtiņš Zilberts, Veronika Rinkule, Līga Paegle, and Edgars Tomševics.
He worked as a pianist and concertmaster for Latvian Radio from 1976 to 2004. Over 27 years, collaborating with around 200 vocalists and instrumentalists, he recorded more than 1,100 compositions in the radio studio. Recordings with flutists Dita Krenberga and Ilona Kudiņa, trombonist Boļeslavs Voļaks, violinist Andris Baumanis, cellist Marta Sudraba, violist Andra Dārziņa, and singers Kristīne Gailīte, Gunta Cēse, Ieva Parša, Jānis Sproģis, Sergejs Martinovs, and Inga Pētersone have been released on CDs in Latvia, Germany, and the USA.
His concert tours have taken him to many countries around the world – Poland, Bulgaria, Sweden, Germany, France, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia, Uzbekistan, the USA, and Canada.
For his contributions to Latvia, he was awarded the Order of the Three Stars in 1998. In 1995, he received the Music Department Award from the World Federation of Free Latvians (PBLA) for promoting Latvian diaspora music in Latvia. In 2016, he received the Grand Music Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2022, he was also honored with a Commendation Letter from the President of Latvia.