Born in Latvia, Imant Raminsh has lived in Canada since 1948. After a diploma and a degree at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto, he studied for two years at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. For more than 30 years Raminsh has been Principal Second Violin of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra. He founded the Youth Symphony of the Okanagan in the interior of British Columbia. He is also the founding conductor of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra in northern BC. In 2007 his homeland honoured him by making him an officer of the Three Stars of the Republic of Latvia. He is known especially for his many choral works.