The Estonian Music Days Festival, which focuses on music written by Estonian composers begins today. The festival will run until May 7, and concerts will take place in Tallinn, Tartu, and Laulasmaa. For the first time, the festival has two themes, one for concerts in Tallinn and the other for Tartu. In Tallinn, the festival will focus on soul and breathing, and the Tartu theme is spirit. Both themes come together to create a whole.
“The festival’s programme gives an overview of the current state of Estonian music. The entire festival is a surprise. As most pieces have been written especially for the festival, we don’t know what to expect and the best idea is to be open to the unexpected,” said Helena Tulve one of the artistic directors of the festival.
The festival presents world premieres from the following composers: Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes, Evelin Seppar, Maria Rostovtseva, Tauno Aints, Lauri Jõeleht, Mariliis Valkonen, Jonas Tarm, Kristo Klaus, Marianna Liik, Ekke Västrik, Sander Saarmets, Age Veeroos, Jüri Tamverk, Malle Maltis, Arash Yazdani, Margo Kõlar, Liisa Hirsch, Märt-Matis Lill, Ülo Krigul, Liina Sumera. In addition, new works by students of the composition department of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT) will be presented.
The music will be performed by: Ensemble for New Music Tallinn, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ENSO), M4GNET Quartet, Oja/Krigul/Metsvahi/Sumera, Bagpipe Orchestra, Ensemble U:, EAMT Sinfonietta, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Talvi Hunt, Tarmo Johannes and others.
The festival also has an additional program consisting of a discussion “Spirit” guided by Märt-Matis Lill (in Estonian) and an introduction to yoga breathing (pranayama) with yoga trainer Reet Remmel, as well as two important composition competitions, the prize fund of which has been set up by LHV, will continue: the “Young Composer 2023” competition and the “LHV New Composition Award Au-tasu 2023”.
The Estonian Music Days concert program is on the festival website.
Festival passes and tickets for individual concerts can be purchased on the Fienta online ticketing portal.