On February 22 at 7 p.m. Girls’ Choir Ellerhein (conductor Tiia-Ester Loitme) with Reval Ensemble will perform in Tallinn St. Nicholas’ Church. The concert “In The Land Of White” organised by State Concert Institute Eesti Kontsert is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Estonian Republic. The programme consists of arrangements of songs by René Eespere and piano pieces by Urmas Sisask as well as chamber works of both composers and free improvisations by Reval Ensemble. In addition to conventional musical instruments, exotic percussion and different types of flutes from Europe and India are used in these arrangements. The title of the concert is derived from Eespere’s song of the same name.
Girls’ Choir Ellerhein was founded in 1951 by Prof. Heino Kaljuste, whose lifework is continued by Tiia-Ester Loitme since 1989. Choir’s repertoire varies from Estonian choral music to classical and contemporary music by outstanding composers of the world. In addition to frequent concerts in Estonia, Ellerhein has successfully performed at concert tours all over the world and won prizes at many reputable international choral contests. Ellerhein often takes part in performances of vocal symphonic works. For a long time choir has been tied to Japan – record companies of that place have released five CD-s with Estonian music sung by Ellerhein. In 2004, Ellerhein won the Grammy for the recording of Jean Sibelius cantatas (Girls Choir Ellerhein (conductor Tiia-Ester Loitme), Estonian National Male Choir (conductor Ants Soots), Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (conductor Paavo Järvi); Virgin Classics).
Contemporary music ensemble Reval Ensemble has been active since 1999. The core of the ensemble is formed by Neeme Punder (flute), Lea Leiten (piano) and Aare Tammesalu (cello). Reval Ensemble has performed in Estonia, Latvia, Belgium and recorded new music by Estonian composers to Estonian Radio. In 2002, Belgian record company Megadisc released ensemble’s CD “To Reach Yesterday” with Lepo Sumera’s works. Reval Ensemble has collaborated with notable Estonian interpreters, several composers from Estonia and abroad have written music specially for them.