News

The Union of Harju County Municipalities awarded the composer Arvo Pärt with the decoration of Honorary Citizen of Harju County.

It is now possible to get a closer look at the music of Arvo Pärt on the website of the Arvo Pärt Centre. We have developed an online facility introducing the full list of Pärt’s compositions.

The winners of the competition 25 Most Beautiful Estonian Books of 2018 were awarded last night at the National Library of Estonia. Also selected among the top 25 most beautiful books was the graphic novel by comic artist Joonas Sildre, Between Two Sounds published by the Arvo Pärt Centre. The book was also awarded the Golden Book special award.

Construction Project of the Year 2018 goes to the Arvo Pärt Centre. The architects of the Arvo Pärt Centre are Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano from the Spanish architecture bureau Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos, and the construction project was completed in cooperation with the architecture bureau Luhse & Tuhal from Estonia. Ehitustrust AS started the construction in March 2017 and the building was completed in October 2018.

The Arvo Pärt Centre by Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos has been shortlisted for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2019. The 40 shortlisted works are spread out in 17 different European countries.

Today, the Minister of Culture, Indrek Saar recognised entrepreneurs and patrons of culture who have made a significant contribution to the arts in 2018 either financially or through their actions. The Arvo Pärt Centre is very happy to see two of our long-standing companions and supporters among the laureates. The title of the Culture Friend of the Year was awarded to Maarja Oviir-Neivelt for years of supporting the field of arts and for her help in the internationalisation of Estonian art. Our supporter and transport partner, Silberauto was honoured as a Culture Friend.

The largest classical event database Bachtrack released the charts about 2018 performance statistics and confirmed Arvo Pärt as the most performed living composer in the world for the eighth consecutive year. He was followed by fellow contemporary composers John Williams, Jörg Widmann ja sir James MacMillan.

Before Christmas, the Arvo Pärt Centre will close earlier than usual. On 20 and 22 December the centre will be open until 4pm. On 21 December we will be open until 3pm. From 23 December 2018 until 1 January 2019, the centre will be closed for the Christmas holidays. We look forward to seeing you again on 2 January.

For years, the author Jaan Kaplinski carefully kept the Bible, printed in 1863, which had belonged to Arvo Pärt’s grandparents. Kaplinski had repeatedly mentioned returning it to the composer and now this has taken place. The Bible is especially valuable for Arvo Pärt, because the composer’s grandmother read it to him on Sundays in his childhood.

Snow is falling… – a manuscript score with such a title, suitable for this time of year, was presented to us by the Theatre and Music Museum whom we were glad to host yesterday at the centre. The piece is a German children’s song arranged by Arvo Pärt, which was found by museum scholar Ene Kuljus, while ordering Valter Ojakäär’s collection.

Two eminent prizes will be awarded to Arvo Pärt on 25-26 November in Warsaw. On Sunday, November 25, Arvo Pärt will be awarded the Golden Medal for Merit to Culture— Gloria Artis —the highest cultural prize in Poland. Another distinguished title will be awarded to Arvo Pärt on Monday, November 26, when Poland’s oldest institution of higher education in music, the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music bestows him an Honorary Doctorate for outstanding musical achievements and for the universal depth of his works.

Today at the Estonian Academy of Arts, the Estonian Association of Construction Entrepreneurs announced that construction project manager Jaano Tootsi of Ehitustrust AS is the Builder of the Year 2018 for managing the construction of the Arvo Pärt Centre.