Scholar of Sacred Music · Conductor · Performer · Teacher

Laine Tabora (b. 1990) Dr. art.,

She is a Latvian choral conductor, teacher, and researcher specializing in Western liturgical and sacred music, with a particular focus on Gregorian chant. She is based in the Netherlands and brings extensive international experience. She holds degrees in music education, choral conducting, and Gregorian chant, having studied at the Latvian Academy of Music, the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, and the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome.

She studied conducting with S. Kļava, J. Vermunt, W. Mandemaker, M. Ozoliņš, and R. Gulikers, and pursued advanced studies in Gregorian chant and medieval music with leading scholars and performers of the field, among them F. K. Prassl, J. B. Göschl, H. Rumphorst, A. Turco, F. Rampi, and J. C. Ascensio. Her academic formation has been further enriched by studies in the theology of the liturgy, which inform both her research and interpretative practice.

Laine Tabora has performed as a singer, soloist, and conductor with various ensembles throughout the Baltic States, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, France, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Spain, Hungary, and the United States.

Performer

“The most sensitive musical instrument is the human soul.”
A. Pärt

International ensemble
Graces & Voices

Since 2017, she has been a member of the internationally acclaimed female vocal ensemble Graces and Voices, with which she regularly performs and records.

Graces&Voices

Schola Cantorum
Vox Iubilantis

In 2017, she founded Schola Cantorum Vox Iubilantis (Latvia), an ensemble dedicated to historically informed interpretations of medieval vocal repertory, while also exploring its dialogue with contemporary musical expressions and promoting medieval music to wider audiences.

Vox Iubilantis

Collaborations and Projects

Alongside her artistic leadership—combining singing and conducting—she engages in project-based interdisciplinary collaborations, curating programmes and performing as a soloist and ensemble musician.

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”
V. Hugo

Church musician

“The proper function of sacred music is to serve the Logos, making the word audible in its spiritual depth”
J. Ratzinger

Music Institute of
St. Bavo Cathedral–Basilica in Haarlem

Since 2022, she has served as conductor of the choirs of the Music Institute of St Bavo Cathedral–Basilica in Haarlem, the Netherlands, as part of the institute’s music team, regularly providing music for liturgical celebrations and cathedral services with the institute’s various choirs.

St. Bavo Cathedral Music Institute

Schola Cantorum Amsterdam

Since 2020, Laine has served as conductor of the women’s section of the Schola Cantorum Amsterdam, a distinguished Gregorian chant ensemble founded in 1959 that sings liturgical offices, especially Gregorian Vespers in Amsterdam’s St. Nicholas co-Cathedral Basilica.

Schola Cantorum Amsterdam

“Psallite Deo nostro Psallite: Psallite Regi nostro psallite. Psallite sapienter!”

Cf. Ps. 46:7

Teacher

In addition to her artistic activities, Laine Tabora is actively engaged in teaching, leading conferences, courses, and seminars on Gregorian chant as well as contemporary liturgical and sacred music.

She teaches courses in Gregorian chant for conductors at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague and the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music.

She also teaches liturgical singing at the Interdiocesan Theological Institute “Maria Moeder van de Kerk” of the Dioceses of Roermond and Haarlem–Amsterdam, affiliated with the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Lateran University (Rome), and located in Heiloo.

Laine offers workshops and private tuition in Gregorian chant, with particular emphasis on interpretation grounded in semiology and on the cultivation of an authentic vocal aesthetic, serving both established scholas and those newly engaging with the chant tradition.

She also provides instruction in Gregorian chant conducting for those wishing to explore chant leadership or who are newly entering the chant tradition. Particular attention is given to gesture and interpretative decisions grounded in early notation and liturgical context.

Upcoming events

Teaching, Lectures, Seminars, Workshops

  • 7 November 2024
    St. Bavo Cathedral, Haarlem (Netherlands)
    Lecturer
    Lecture:Gregorian Chant: Past, Present, and Future

    26 May 2024
    St. Lidwina Basilica, Schiedam (Netherlands)
    Lecture in honor of the men’s choir In Honorem Dei on the occasion of the inclusion of Gregorian chant in the Netherlands Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage

    25–27 July 2023
    Seminar for Church Organists, Aglona (Latvia)
    Lecturer
    Lecture:Singing the Mystery in Ordinary Time

    20–22 July 2022
    Seminar for Church Organists, Aglona (Latvia)
    Lecturer
    Lecture:The Identity of Liturgical Music

    22–24 August 2019
    4th Liturgical Music Summer Academy “Psallite Sapienter”
    Riga Higher Institute of Religious Sciences, Riga (Latvia)
    Organizer, Programme Director

    2–4 August 2018
    3rd Liturgical Music Summer Academy “Psallite Sapienter”
    Riga Higher Institute of Religious Sciences, Riga (Latvia)
    Organizer, Programme Director

    24–25 October 2017
    Seminar for Parish Organists of the Diocese of Rēzekne–Aglona, Aglona (Latvia)
    Lecturer
    Lecture:Mass Chants and Criteria for Their Selection

    17–19 August 2016
    2nd Liturgical Music Summer Academy “Psallite Sapienter”
    Riga Higher Institute of Religious Sciences, Riga (Latvia)
    Organizer, Lecturer
    Lecture:Proprium Chants in the Roman Rite Liturgy

    25–26 October 2015
    Seminar for Parish Organists of the Diocese of Rēzekne–Aglona, Aglona (Latvia)
    Lecturer
    Lecture:Liturgical Chants of the Church Year

    17–19 August 2015
    1st Liturgical Music Summer Academy “Psallite Sapienter”
    Riga Higher Institute of Religious Sciences, Riga (Latvia)
    Organizer, Lecturer
    Lecture:The Ministry and Role of the Church Musician in the Liturgy

    21–23 August 2015
    Days of Liturgical Formation, Ludza (Latvia)
    Organizer, Lecturer
    Lecture:Singing and Music in Magisterial Documents and the Role of Music in the Liturgy

  • Dziedošo jaunavu rokraksti. Katoļu Baznīcas Vēstnesis, Nr. 7 (2021)

    Mēs Viņā, un Viņš mūsos. Katoļu Baznīcas Vēstnesis, Nr. 3 (2021)

    Baznīca – mājvieta skaistumam. Katoļu Baznīcas Vēstnesis, Nr. 2 (2021)

    Kāpēc dziedāt liturģiju? Katoļu Baznīcas Vēstnesis, Nr. 9 (2020)

    Gregoriskais korālis – Lectio Divina. Katoļu Baznīcas Vēstnesis, Nr. 5 (2020)

    “Qui bene cantat, bis orat” – Kas labi dzied, lūdzas divkārši. Katoļu Baznīcas Vēstnesis, Nr. 5 (2020)

    Sakrālā mūzika un tās interpreti. Katoļu Baznīcas Vēstnesis, Nr. 12 (2019)

    Un Vārds tapa skaņa. Katoļu Baznīcas Vēstnesis, Nr. 6 (2019)