Universe of Strings

Paulina and Miia’s friendship began in 2017. The idea to create a zither duo was born a few years later, when both started studying at the Georg Ots Tallinn Music College (2020). The zither is a very special and close instrument for them, being something very old but also something new at the same time. The further development of the zither (kannel in Estonian) as an instrument is still ongoing and many techniques have yet to be discovered.

The repertoire of duo Paulina&Miia consists of classical and contemporary music, and they also perform their own compositions, based on folk tunes from different countries. Last year, 2023, was a very successful year for the duo, they won several awards such as Tallinn Talent, the title of Zither Student of the Year (Estonian Zither Union), 1st place at the “Art-Dominanta” competition (Ukraine) and 1st place at the 7th International Kazimieras Biliūnas Folk Instruments Festival-Competition (Lithuania). In 2024, the 1st place was won in the international string competition “Jūrmala 2024” in Jūrmala, Latvia.

Paulina and Miia describe their joint music making as something spiritual and cosmic, based on this, the program of the concert “Universe of Strings” in August has been put together, as part of which the works of René Eespere, Urmas Sisask, Ludovico Einaudi and others will be heard.