Mari Vihmand
On October 9, Mari Vihmand’s Unterwegs will be premiered in the heart of Swabian Alb, St. Amandus Collegiate Church in Bad Urach. New piece is written for four soloists, choir and orchestra, texts was selected from South German poets (Justinus Kerner, Hermann Hesse, Eduard Mörike, Friedrich Schiller). While the piece was commissioned to be performed together with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Vihmand attempted to create a connection with Beethoven firstly using Schiller’s Ode to Joy, secondly instrumental allusion to Beethoven’s tune. Concert will take place within the framework of Herbstliche Musiktage Bad Urach. Vihmand’s Unterwegs will be performed by Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Münchner Motettenchor, soloists Melanie Diener (soprano), Barbara Hölzl (alto), Mirko Roschkowski (tenor) and Michael Kraus (baritone), conductor is George Pehlivanian.
Mari Vihmand graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music as a student of Prof. Eino Tamberg in 1990 and obtained master’s degree with Lepo Sumera in 1997. 1995–1997 she studied at the Lyon Conservatoire in France under Gilbert Amy and Philippe Manoury. "Floreo" for symphony orchestra, received the first prize at the International UNESCO Composers' Rostrum in Paris in the under-30 composers' category in 1996. Currently she is living in the small German town of Bad Urach.
Mariliis Valkonen