On September 30, the Estonian Music Council’s Music Prizes 2007 were given in Tallinn Blackhead’s Brotherhood House. Prizes in amount of 50 000 Estonian kroons were awarded in three categories. Composition prize was presented to Tõnu Kõrvits for his contribution to Estonian orchestral music, interpretation prize to soprano Aile Asszonyi for her vocal virtuosity and brilliant roles and prize for activities in music scene to Jaan Ross for his epochal music books and achievements in taking the Estonian musicology to international arena.
The jury consisted of Peep Lassmann, Toomas Siitan, Olav Ehala, Urvi Haasma, Jüri Leiten, Ülo Krigul and Timo Steiner chose the winners from 41 nominees of the Estonian Music Council’s member institutions.
Estonian Music Council was founded in 1992 and unites the majority of Estonian music institutions. EMC awards the music prize since 2002 giving credit to musicians or music institutions whose activities have furthered the development of Estonian music scene. Last year’s laureates were composer Toivo Tulev, pianist Ivari Ilja and organist and producer Andes Uibo.
The EMC Music Prizes were awarded at the Tallinn Philharmony “Piano Fever” series opening concert, dedicated to the International Day of Music. Works by Valentin Silvestrov, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jean Sibelius and Joseph Haydn were performed by pianist Irina Zahharenkova and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra with Juha Kangas conducting.