On Friday, April 18th at 7 PM the flutist Neeme Punder celebrates his 50th anniversary with a concert in the Niguliste Church. On that occasion Neeme Punder invites a number of co-musicians and sympathizers on stage with him. The program consists of some of the works that are meaningful for Neeme Punder: music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, also from Estonian composers (Lepo Sumera, Galina Grigorjeva and Andres Uibo).
Neeme Punder himself will perform Quasi niente by Galina Grigorjeva with percussionist Madis Metsamart, Peeter Vähi’s arrangement of two pieces by Jacob van Eyck with Peeter Vähi on synthesizer (those pieces come from the album called The Flutish Kingdom that Punder and Vähi recorded together) and the Flute Concerto No. 2 in D major with Pärnu City Orchestra conducted by Jüri Alperten. Additionally Hortus Musicus led by Andres Mustonen will perform Pantomime by Lepo Sumera, Finnish harpsichord artist Pekka Vapaavuori will play Suite No. 7 in F major by Georg Böhm, the flutist Oksana Sinkova (once a student of Punder) and the organist Andres Uibo will perform Bach in Spiegel by Andres Uibo and the Wind Octet of Estonian National Opera will perform The Art of Fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Neeme Punder has commented the works by Sumera and Grigorjeva in concert’s program: Pantomime by Lepo Sumera has a significant meaning for me: first the circumstance that I did the first recording by improvising on clay instrument but becoming acquainted with the composer and his music was even more important. My deep respect for Lepo and his creation has only increased in time. The works by Galina Grigorjeva have everything that is worth admiration for me: the musical language but also the philosophy and world cognition behind it. Also Madis Metsamart’s percussion sounds mixed with modern effects on flute refer to the beyond.
Flutish Kingdom, the headline of the concert, initially stood for CD recorded in co-operation with Peeter Vähi, later also for flute festival and concert series – so the flute kingdom has accompanied Neeme Punder for years. Flute kingdom also means the way of thinking, religion and timbres that different works for flute are related to.
Neeme Punder (1958) graduated Tallinn State Conservatoire as a flutist in 1981; he has also studied in Sweden and the Netherlands. In 1978, he was a laureate of Republican Competition for Wind Instruments. Neeme Punder has been a soloist of early music ensemble Hortus Music for years; he has also played in Finnish-Estonian Baroque Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, in ensemble The Art Russica etc. Being one of the most enthusiastic early music players in Estonia next to Andres Mustonen, Neeme Punder has specialized on early music interpretation problems. He has been organizing Viljandi Early Music Festival for years; he also has been initiating several flute-oriented concert series and festival Flutish Kingdom. Punder is also known with his contemporary music interpretations and premieres of works by Estonian composers (Peeter Vähi, Galina Grigorjeva, René Eespere, Helena Tulve, Toivo Tulev etc.); he is a member of contemporary music ensemble Reval Ensemble. Neeme Punder is a producer of Estonian largest concert agency Eesti Kontsert.
Maria Mölder