Early Life
Born on November 1, 1962, in Portland, Oregon, Ritmanis is the daughter of Dr. Andris Ritmanis and Asja Ritmanis, who left Latvia during World War II and immigrated to the US in 1949. Ritmanis has a sister, Brigita Ritmanis-Jameson, and a brother, Alberts Ritmanis.
Throughout her childhood Ritmanis studied piano, flute, guitar and voice, performing in both jazz and classical music ensembles. Ritmanis composed her first song at age 11. By age 16 she had toured the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, composing for and performing with the Latvian popular music group Dzintars (Amber). Latvian song festivals throughout the world provided Ritmanis with the opportunity to conduct and perform her works before larger audiences.
Ritmanis graduated from Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon in 1980. She moved to Los Angeles to study at the Dick Grove School Of Music, where she graduated from both the Composition Program and the Film Music Composition Program, studying with composers Dick Grove, Mundell Lowe, Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, Allyn Ferguson, and Jack Feirman, among others. Ritmanis also studied privately with teachers Mauro Bruno, Gibner King, and Matt Dennis.
Read more about this topic: Lolita Ritmanis
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“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
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