“Silence, to the composer, is like a clean canvas to a painter or blank white paper to a poet – tabula rasa.”
– Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt Centre Creative Residency and Scholarships
The peaceful atmosphere, natural light, and quiet surroundings of the Arvo Pärt Centre’s creative spaces provide an inspiring environment for composers, performers, and professionals from a wide range of disciplines, including writing, visual arts, architecture, photography, film, and dance. We welcome individual artists as well as small ensembles, collectives, and working groups of up to four people.
Since 2023, the Arvo Pärt Centre residency has been part of the Estonian Creative Residencies Network (LOORE).
We aim to inspire, offering the time and space for open-ended, creative processes. During the chosen residency period, the artist is welcome to work and practise at the APC building as well as the surrounding area with no fixed requirement for a completed work or project.
Accommodation and location
The Arvo Pärt Centre is located in Laulasmaa, 35 kilometres from Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, on a beautiful natural peninsula between the sea and a pine forest.
The residency offers accommodation at the Centre’s new residency building, the Alina House (100m from the Centre’s main building). The accommodation includes a shared kitchen area and a private working room on the ground floor and a bedroom with a private bathroom on the first floor. It is also possible to stay at the LaSpa hotel nearby. For those seeking inspiration, a spacious creative room with a forest view can be rented, creating the perfect space for creativity to blossom.
To see in more detail what is available in the creative room, please click here.
For more information about how to get here, please click here.
Applying for Residency
There are two types of residency available:
Residency Scholarship
Two scholarships are awarded every year, one for musicians and one for other artists.
The scholarship will provide all costs covered by residency by the APC, including international and local travel, accommodation in the Alina House, and per diems. The applicant is free to decide the duration of the residency between 3 to 4 weeks. Please note this residency is personal and does not include any accompanying persons. While it is possible for small ensembles, collectives or working groups (up to 4 people) to apply for the scholarship, the APC has funds to only cover the expenses of 1 person in a group.
APC Residency Scholarship recipients
Annamaria Kowalsky (2021, Austria)
Olga Podgaiskaya (2022, Belarus/Poland)
Golfam Khayam (2022, Iran)
Ivar Põllu (2022, Estonia)
Sophia Jani (2023, Germany)
Indrek Koff (2023, Estonia)
Elena Medel (2024, Spain)
Benoît Sitzia (2024, France)
Graham Fitkin (2025, United Kingdom)
Nikola Madzhirov (2025, North Macedonia)
Pärt Uusberg (2026, Estonia)
Justė Janulytė (2026, Lithuania)
Liis Sein (2026, Estonia)
The application round for the 2026 residency scholarships has ended!
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Self-funded residency
Applications for the self-funded residency can be submitted at any time of the year, depending on the availability of the rooms. The length of the residency varies from 1 to 4 weeks. After submitting, the application must be approved by the residency committee. If accepted for the residency, the applicant will pay all costs of the self-funded residency. We offer accommodation in the Alina House (next to the main building of the Centre), and/or a spacious creative room at the following prices:
Alina House 70€ per night, 80€ per night with a partner
(bedroom, private bathroom, a small studio, and a shared kitchen area)
Creative room 40€ per day, 225€ per week
Residents are welcome to work at the APC main building from 9 am to 6 pm.
To apply for the self-funded residency, please fill in this application form. Applications for the self-funded residency are accepted throughout the year. All residents must comply with our Terms and Conditions. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
For further questions, feel free to contact:
Hele-Mai Poobus
+372 335 3000
helemai@arvopart.ee