Composer, musician and pedagogue Alvils Altmanis was born on July 1, 1950 in Sidrabene parish of Jelgava district. He studied the clarinet at Jelgava BMS and Jelgava Music High School with Július Grūtup. Graduated from the LVK (today - JVLMA) majoring in clarinet (1986–1990) and composition (1991–1995).Since 1986, Alvils Altmanis has been an artist of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, plays clarinet and bass clarinet. Worked as a clarinet teacher at Dobele Music School (1979–1982), Jūrmala Music High School (1985–1989), taught composition at Jelgava College of Music (1995–1998), was a lecturer at the Music Faculty of the Riga University of Pedagogy and Educational Management (1996–2004), since 2000, he has been a clarinet and saxophone teacher at the Ulbrok School of Music and Art. He has given solo concerts in Riga and other Latvian cities, as a soloist he has performed together with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, the orchestras of Ventspils, Jelgava and Rēzekne Colleges of Music. Played brass band in Riga, Latvian Radio Jazz Orchestra, Jelgava big band Gamma. Participated in jazz music competitions and festivals. At the Liepāja dzintars festival in 1981, he received the award as the best instrumentalist. Latvijas Radio has recorded many compositions for clarinet and bass clarinet.While still a student of the composition department, Alvils Altmanis won 1st place in the international composition competition in Enschede, Holland. He is also a laureate of several Latvian-wide competitions. His own concerts have been held in Riga and other cities - Ventspils, Daugavpils, Jelgava. The music was also heard abroad: in Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Germany, Finland, Czech Republic, Holland, Scotland, USA. Alvils Altmanis is one of the few Latvian composers who knows both academic genres and jazz music, as he also plays the saxophone himself. That is why he plays, composes, arranges and improvises equally freely in different musical fields and in different formations.Since 1994, Alvils Altmanis has been a member of the Latvian Composers' Union.