News

Arvo Pärt’s 90th birthday year brings to the Arvo Pärt Centre a distinguished group of performers to whom the composer is deeply grateful for their insight into, and dedication to, his music.

The festival Les Boréales takes place from 13 to 23 November in Caen and other locations across Normandy. One of Europe’s largest multidisciplinary festivals dedicated to Nordic and Baltic culture, it gives a special prominence this year to the music of Arvo Pärt within its broad Estonian programme.

Arvo and Nora Pärt, along with the Arvo Pärt Centre team, are commemorating Thomas Daniel Schlee, an Austrian composer, organist and musical figure (26/10/1957 – 10/11/2025).

Today, 11 November, sees the opening in Oxford of a wide-ranging festival dedicated to the music of Arvo Pärt, 90 Years of Arvo Pärt: A REFLECTION. Taking place at various venues across the university city, the six-day festival focuses on the composer’s tintinnabuli works as he marks his 90th birthday this year. The festival is organised by Music at Oxford in collaboration with the Arvo Pärt Centre, the Estonian Embassy in London and the Estonian Ministry of Culture. The patron of the festival is Estonia’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, H.E. Sven Sakkov.

The Arvo Pärt Centre Endowment invited patrons of the arts from Estonia and the United States to attend Arvo Pärt's 90th birthday concerts at Carnegie Hall. The evening began with a charity dinner, joined by cultural figures and entrepreneurs from Estonia and around the world, including Estonian President Alar Karis and Minister of Culture Heidy Purga.

On 23 and 24 October, the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York will host the opening concerts of a season dedicated to the 90th anniversary of composer Arvo Pärt. The performances will present some of Pärt’s most significant works to American audiences, interpreted by Estonia’s leading musicians. Alongside the birthday concerts, the programme includes visits to New York by Estonian President Alar Karis, Minister of Culture Heidy Purga and a creative industries delegation, as well as a gala dinner hosted by the Arvo Pärt Centre Foundation and a film screening.

On 17–18 October, the Arvo Pärt Centre will host the international research conference Arvo Pärt: Ideascapes, bringing together scholars from around the world to discuss the musical and intellectual legacy of the composer, who celebrates his 90th birthday this year.

Today marks the opening of a four-day festival at the renowned Flagey concert hall in Brussels dedicated to the 90th birthday of composer Arvo Pärt. Running from 8 to 11 October, the Arvo Pärt Festival features performances by distinguished musicians from Estonia and across Europe, alongside film screenings, lectures and an exhibition introducing Pärt’s work. The extensive accompanying programme has been organised in collaboration with the Estonian Embassy in Brussels and the Arvo Pärt Centre.

To mark the composer’s 90th birthday, the Arvo Pärt Centre has published an extraordinary book-album. Titled Gratefully. Heartfelt. With Love. Musical Greetings from Arvo Pärt, it reveals a previously unknown and humorous side of Arvo Pärt’s creative work.

Arvo and Nora Pärt, along with the team of the Arvo Pärt Centre, commemorate the legendary director and artist Robert Wilson (1941–2025).

On October 17–18, 2025, the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa will host the international research conference Arvo Pärt: Ideascapes. With its intentionally broad thematic scope, we invite scholars from various disciplines to explore and share ideas related to the musical and intellectual legacy of the Estonian composer, who celebrates his 90th birthday this year.

This graphic novel Between Two Sounds, which is about Arvo Pärt, was published by the Arvo Pärt Centre and written by the artist and illustrator Joonas Sildre. It has now reached readers in the Czech language.