Sigvards Kļava was the creative director and principal conductor of the Latvian Radio Choir from 1992 to 2023. His focused and dedicated work shaped the Latvian Radio Choir into an internationally-recognizable, vocally distinct and unique musical unit, and sought-after collaborators for the most prominent musicians and conductors of the world, as well as the organizers of the most famous festivals.

The programmes Sigvards Kļava creates always carry carefully crafted messages; they are musical expeditions that explore the phenomenons of signing and the voice, seek a bridge between the archaic and contemporary, and discover the timeless and everlasting through constructing thematic concert programmes. A significant role has been given to various stage productions and inter-media projects. As one of the larger scale projects, a special highlight can be cast on the cycle The Ring of Latvia, in which the interactions between the Word and the Sound reveal the peculiarities of each region of Latvia. His productions with Imants Kalniņš’s and Arturs Maskats’s music, as well as programmes dedicated to Broņeslava Martuževa and Mārtiņš Brauns have become dearly beloved by audiences. By Sigvards Kļava’s initiative, the project Bahs. Pasija. Rīga (Bach. Passion. Riga) was produced in 2014, seeing all of Johann Sebastian Bach’s passions performed in churches around Riga. Under Sigvards Kļava’s leadership, the choir has found a special synergy with Latvian composers like Maija Einfelde, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Arurs Maskats, Kristaps Pētersons, Santa Ratniece, Juris Karlsons, Andrejs Salickis, Pēteris Vasks, as well as many foreign composers; this has brought about endless premieres and recordings.

Sigvards Kļava studied conducting in the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, the International Bach Academy of Stuttgart, the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, as well as in master classes in the Oregon Bach Festival. Since 2000, he has been a professor in the Department of Choir Conducting of the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music.

Sigvards Kļava has been a guest of the most esteemed festivals and concert halls, performing in the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, the Lincoln Hall in New York among others. As a guest conductor, he has performed with the leading European professional collectives, including the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Chorus of Dutch National Opera, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, Cappella Amsterdam, RIAS Chamber Choir, the MDR from Leipzig and multiple other collectives. He has taken part in international juries and different educational projects, worked as a record producer and a sound design installation and exposition artist, and since 1990 he is also a chief conductor of the Latvian National Song and Dance Festival.

Sigvards Kļava is a repeated winner of the Latvian Grand Music Award, a recipient of the Republic of Latvia Cabinet of Ministers Award, and a Bearer of the Latvian Order of the Three Stars.