 Ēriks Ešenvalds was born in Priekule, Latvia in 1977.He studied at the Latvian Baptist Theological Seminary (1995–1997) before obtaining his master's degree in composition (2004) from the Latvian Academy of Music under the tutelage of Selga Mence.He took master-classes with Michael Finnissy, Klaus Huber, Philippe Manoury and Jonathan Harvey, amongst others.