The founder and artistic director of the group „Schola Cantorum Riga” is Guntars Prānis.

He is also the Music Director of Riga Cathedral, where he leads the Cathedral choir and the vocal group “Laudate”.
Guntars Pranis is Assistant professor of Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music and regularly gives talks on early music at numerous courses and
conferences in Latvia and abroad.
Currently he writes his dissertation about "Medieval music tradition in Riga".
It was his idea and initiative to start the tradition of the Gregorian
Music Week in Latvia and he has been its artistic leader since 1992.

Guntars Pranis has studied music in Latvia, Germany and Austria and his special
interest has been Medieval music. He has studied with the most prominent
authorities on Gregorian chants G.Joppich, J.B.Goschl, A.Turco, Fr.K.Prassl
and others.

Guntars Pranis is a guest lecturer at other institutions of higher
education and music schools in Latvia, as well as the author of many
publications.

He is also a member of the international network of Christian classical
professional musicians and music students Crescendo and coordinates its
activities in Latvia.