He was born in Latvia and graduated from the Latvian Academy of Music. He made his debut at the Latvian National Opera, performing in Boito's Mephistopheles. He has won ten international competitions and received the Latvian Annual Music Award twice. He made his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in I Puritani. He gained international acclaim singing the title role in Le Demon (Rubinstein) at the Bregenzer Festspiele. He has also performed at prestigious music festivals including The Tanglewood Music Festival, Savonlinna Opera Festival and Glyndebourne Festival. He has performed at many of the world´s leading opera houses, including Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Semperoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro del Liceu, Mariinsky Theatre, Opernhaus Zürich and others. His repertoire contains more than 70 roles, including: Holländer (Fliegender Holländer), Wotan (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre), Wanderer (Siegfried), Amfortas-Klingsor (Parsifal), Telramund (Lohengrin), Jochanaan (Salome), Barak (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Orest (Elektra). Past seasons engagements include the Wotan and Jochanann at the Opernhaus Zürich, Holländer at Teatro Real, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Semperoper and Royal Opera House, Wotan and Sebastiano at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Amfortas and Klingsor Teatro del Liceu Barcelona and Opernhaus Zürich, Prince Igor again in Zürich, Jochanaan at London Royal Opera House, Ring Cycle at Opera de Paris and Bayerische Staatsoper Münich, Jochanaan at Volksoper Vienna. He has recently performed Scarpia at Staatsoper Berlin, Wotan-Wanderer at Budapest Wagner festival and Tokio Nomori Festival, Kurwenal at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Jochanaan at Ravinia Festival Chicago, Amfortas at New National Theater Tokio, Holländer at ROH Covent Garden, Wotan and Wanderer at Leipzig Opera, Holländer at Düsseldorf Opera, Escamillo at Hamburg Opera.