Photo: Rene Jakobson


On May 3, the LHV new music award Au-tasu which aims to recognise one outstanding work premiered in 2018 was handed out during the concert „The Forest of Sounds“ at Estonia Concert Hall as a part of the Estonian Music Days festival. This year, composer Helena Tulve with her work „In Uncharted Waters“ was given the award, presented by the Estonian Composers’ Union and LHV Bank.

The LHV new music award Au-tasu appreciates new Estonian music and composers and brings the spotlight on the contemporary works that attract a wider following and deserve to be introduced to international audiences. The Estonian Composers' Union and the LHV Bank who is sponsoring the award believe it is necessary to highlight the valuable and high-quality creative work that is done among the Estonian classical music composers.

This year's nominees for the LHV new music award were:
Age Veeroos, „Skein of Thought“
Andrus Kallastu, „La Mort du Shamane“
Arash Yazdani, „Nakba“
Elo Masing, „Relational Structure“
Helena Tulve, „In Uncharted Waters“
Jüri Reinvere, „Und müde vom Glück, fingen sie an zu tanzen“
Liina Sumera, „Conatus“

LHV Bank and the Estonian Music Days festival launched the Au-tasu award in 2016. Partners of the LHV new music award are the Estonian Composers' Union, Estonian Music Information Centre, Estonian Public Broadcasting and classical music radio station Klassikaraadio. Previous laureates of the LHV award include Liisa Hirsch, „Ascending...Descending“ (2016), Toivo Tulev, „Black Mirror“ (2017), and Erkki-Sven Tüür, „Solastalgia“ (2018).

Estonian Music Days festival celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and hosts the prestigious annual contemporary music festival World Music Days from May 2 to 10. During the festival, hundreds of professional musicians and the most recent new music in 2019 from more than 50 countries will be presented in different venues in Tallinn, Tartu, and Laulasmaa.