News

To celebrate the composer’s 85th birthday, the Arvo Pärt Centre – the composer’s personal archive and information and music centre in Laulasmaa – and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre are holding an international research conference dedicated to Arvo Pärt’s work and the cultural context surrounding it. Registration is required and will begin on 30 August on the centre’s website.

We mourn the passing of a great Estonian poet and philosopher Jaan Kaplinski (22 January 1941 – 8 August 2021). Jaan Kaplinski and Arvo Pärt were friends of many years, their friendship dating back to the 1970s. Although as artists they took different paths, there were invisible threads and a shared sense of culture that continued to unite them – “the same sea in all of us”.

The Arvo Pärt Centre's film evenings “Pärt & Film”, taking place from August 13th to August 15th, exhibit the surprisingly rich and versatile film language of screen works in which Arvo Pärt's music is used.

This summer, a concert lecture using a new format will take place in co-operation between the Arvo Pärt Centre and the Järvi Academy, where participants of the course as well as the public can become acquainted with the history of Arvo Pärt’s works and selected archive materials. The internationally renowned Pärnu Music Festival brings together

This summer, the Arvo Pärt Centre is launching a film programme featuring a selection of portrait documentaries about acclaimed contemporary composers and music performers. Opening the programme on 3 July is a portrait of the violinist and founder of Kremerata Baltica, Gidon Kremer, who will also be attending the screening.

At the end of April, the Arvo Pärt Centre announced a competition for a residency scholarship, which allows one artist to focus on their work at the centre for up to a month. The first scholarship was awarded to Austrian composer and artist Annamaria Kowalsky.

In mid-April, when the exhibition halls and museums were closed, we talked to Arvo Pärt about what was happening in his creative life between 1963 and 1964. This discussion focused on the creative history of Symphony No. 1 and the choral composition "Solfeggio", both written in 1963.

Today, at the age of 99, the brilliant and beloved Estonian composer Ester Mägi (10 Jan 1922 – 14 May 2021), whose quietly powerful music has touched many hearts, has left us.

Arvo Pärt’s a cappella choral work, O Holy Father Nicholas, will be premiered in New York City in the Fall of 2021. The premiere will take place during the opening of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center Ground Zero site, performed by Schola Cantorum and guest conducted by Benedict Sheehan (Grammy Nominated).

The Arvo Pärt Centre is launching its recidency programme, offering artists from different fields of creativity a possibility to look for new ideas and concentrate on their work. The residency’s duration is from 1 to 4 weeks. The Centre awards a residency scholarship twice a year.

40 years ago, on 25 April 1981, the piece De profundis for male choir, percussion ad libitum and organ premiered at the festival “Neue Musik in die Kirche” in Germany.

The Arvo Pärt Centre is joining the PAI initiative, calling for gratitude and appreciation to be expressed towards the nurses and care workers who are looking after our health and fighting at the forefront of the pandemic.