Krists Auznieks is a Latvian composer whose work moves between concert music, opera, and music theatre. His compositions — described as "exhilarating" and "stunning" by San Francisco Classical Voice and praised for their "astonishing complexity and beauty" by Broadwayworld — open toward the contemplative and the transcendent, creating spaces where audiences encounter something beyond the familiar.

Auznieks has received commissions from the Swedish Radio, Latvian National Opera, Atlanta Symphony, American Composer Orchestra, Bang on a Can, Aspen Music Festival, Kremerata Baltica, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, among others. He has collaborated with conductors Tarmo Peltokoski, Kristiina Poska, Robert Spano, Patrick Summers, and Christopher Rountree, and with ensembles including Cappella Amsterdam, the Latvian Radio Choir, and the New York–based Contemporaneous and Unheard-Of. His music has been performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Royal Danish Theatre, and Atlanta Symphony Hall, and at festivals including the Prague Quadrennial, MATA, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, and Aspen.

Auznieks is the youngest composer to receive the Latvian Grand Music Award for best composition of the year. He was named the 2021 "Person of the Year in Culture" by Latvijas Avīze and received the International Rostrum of Composers award. His quintet Piano was featured by The New York Times as one of the week's best classical music moments. Additional honors include the Jacob Druckman Prize (Aspen Music Festival), awards from the American Composer Orchestra's Earshot and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, and fellowships at the Paris Cité internationale des arts, Civitella Ranieri and the Hermitage Artist Retreat. His album was nominated for three Opus Klassik Awards.

He holds a DMA and MM from the Yale School of Music, where he received the Woods Chandler Memorial Prize, and is an alumnus of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. He currently serves as Chair of the Composition Department at the Latvian Academy of Music and Artistic Director of Baltic Music Days 2026. From 2024 to 2026, he served as Head of the Latvian Composers' Union.