Music News

Premieres of Estonian composers at the festival Sounds New

From May 20–29 , new music festival Sounds New is taking place in Canterbury, that bears the title Baltic+ and features composer Arvo Pärt. Estonian contemporary music ensemble U: will give a concert, new works by Tatjana Kozlova, Malle Maltis and Timo Steiner will be performed by ensemble CoMA.
 


Arvo Pärt
Photo: Peeter Langovits

Festival was introduced by 24 Preludes to a Fugue, Dorian Supin’s documentary about Arvo Pärt. At the first night, London Sinfonietta performed Pärt’s Passacaglia in Augustine Hall. The guest composer’s music can be listened within next days by several well-known collectives.

At the concert of Danish Horn Trio, Spiegel im Spiegel will be performed (May 24), Cello Octet Amsterdam will give the UK premiere of Summa, O-Antiphonen and Da pacem Domine (May 26), Choir of King’s College Cambridge and Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of Stephen Cleobury will present Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten and Adam’s Lament (May 27). Festival Evensong in Caterbury Cathedral on May 27 includes Pärt’s compositions I Am the True Vine and Magnificat, sung by cathedral choir (director David Flood). On May 29, a mini-choir festival will take place that ends with all the choirs joining together to sing Pärt’s Magnificat.
 


Tatjana Kozlova

Timo Steiner

Malle Maltis

In addition to Estonian guest composer Arvo Pärt, the festival presents three world premieres by Estonian young composers. On May 29 at 1.30 pm, ensemble CoMA with its director Greogry Rose will give a concert in Christ Church University Chapel where Tatjana Kozlova’s 30 Scales and Postlude, Malle Maltis’s Counterflow and Timo Steiner’s Sea Canon will be premiered. All scores are with open instrumentation. Program includes Erkki-Sven Tüür’s The Changes Are Taking Shape as well. CoMA is a network of amateur contemporary music groups throughout the UK and Ireland and commissions composers to write artistically challenging music that still suites for amatuer ensembles. During the festival, Malle Maltis and Timo Steiner will participate 4-day composer in-residence course entitled Estonian Adventure in Sound.

A day earlier, May 28, Ensemble U: will give a concert in Augustine Hall. Program includes Arvo Pärt's Diagrams, Märt-Matis Lill’s My Weeping Voice Is the Wind of Autumn, Helena Tulve’s stream 2a and Tatjana Kozlova’s Horizontals.

In association with Sounds New festival, Canterbury Christ Church University organises international conference Baltic Musics and Musicologies which takes place from May 26 to 28, where music by Arvo Pärt, Veljo Tormis, Ester Mägi and Erkki-Sven Tüür will be handled. From among Estonian musicologists Urve Lippus, Saale Kareda, Kerri Kotta and Heli Reimann will participate. Look the precise program.

Sounds New launched in 1997, the main guests have been great composers like Krzysztof Penderecki, Peter Maxwell Davies, Magnus Lindberg, James MacMillan and others.


 

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