With the Arvo Pärt Days, the artistic director of the festival, Tõnu Kaljuste, would like to turn our eyes and hearts towards the people of Ukraine, saying: „Save our souls – that’s what we’re asking for during these Arvo Pärt Days, with every concert and every work. We sympathise with the Ukrainian people; the tragedy for the Ukrainians is a tragedy for us all.“The concerts will take place all over Estonia: in Tallinn, Tartu, Paide, Rakvere, Hiiumaa, Saaremaa, Pärnu, Viljandi, Rapla, Viimsi, Laulasmaa and for the first time in Narva. Concerts will be given by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, chamber choir Collegium Musicale, vocal ensemble Vox Clamantis and Hortus Musicus, ensemble Theatre of Voices (conductor Paul Hillier), English conductor Peter Phillips, violinist and conductor Sergei Krylov from Lithuania and Belgian ensemble Trio O3. The latter was brought to Estonia by their interest in Tõnu Kõrvits's work, which they have been performing already for years and are now also planning to record here.
At the opening concert on September 2 at 7 p.m. in Tallinn St. John's Church, one can see the intertwining of the lives and works of two composers – Arvo Pärt and Sofia Gubaidulina. The festival ends with Arvo Pärt's birthday concert on September 11 at 7 p.m. at the St. John's Church in Tallinn, where Tõnu Kaljuste together with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra offers the listeners a program of the composer's latest works – a selection of Pärt's works for choir and chamber orchestra from the last two decades. The most recent of them, O Holy Father Nicholas, for a cappella mixed choir, was premiered in New York only last October.
More info: Nargenfestival