He was born in Riga. In 1997 he joined the Latvian National Opera as a member of their chorus, and only five months later made his solo debut with the company as Oberto (Alcina). He appeared at leading opera houses like Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Opera de Bordeaux, Opera de Monte-Carlo and Deutsche Oper am Rhein, where he was acclaimed for the demanding role of Giuseppe Hagenbach in La Wally. As Verdi’s Otello he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2008 in a new production under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Muti. In 2009 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York in Rusalka (Prince with Renée Fleming) with a big success. In 2010 he sang at Wiener Staatsoper Pique Dame and Otello as well as in Valencia Turriddu (Cavalleria Rusticana) and at the Metropolitan Opera a new production of Boris Godunov (Dimitri). He sang at the Scala di Milano Tosca (Cavaradossi), a new production of Otello under the baton of Maestro Pappano at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden London, a debut in Arena di Verona with Tosca and Samson et Dalila at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. In 2015 he sang Turandot for the EXPO-opening in Milano at the Scala.