On 18 June, a concordat between the representatives of the Arvo Pärt Centre and St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary – located in New York – was signed in Laulasmaa. The concordat substantiates continued cooperation, above all in the fields of arts and theology in mutual counselling and joint academic activities. For example, there will be lectures on the works of Arvo Pärt, theology, archival science, and on other areas that relate to the work of the seminary and the centre. The concordat was signed by the chairman of the board of the seminary, the archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada; the dean of the seminary, Fr. John Behr; the chancellor of the seminary, Fr. Chad Hatfield; the chairman of the board of the Arvo Pärt Centre, Michael Pärt; and the managing director of the Arvo Pärt Centre, Anu Kivilo. Professor Peter Bouteneff and his wife Patricia, as well as Tatiana Lapchuk Hoff, a trustee of the seminary and an active supporter of the Arvo Pärt Project, were part of the delegation from St Vladimir‘s Seminary.
The official collaboration is a natural continuation of the existing cooperation between the Arvo Pärt Centre and St Vladimir‘s Seminary since 2011 organised under the Arvo Pärt Project, initiated by Peter Bouteneff and Nicholas Reeves. The culmination of the project thus far was were performances of Arvo Pärt’s music, which took place in May 2014 in New York and Washington, and St. Vladimir’s Seminary presenting an honorary doctorate to Arvo Pärt. The book “Arvo Pärt: Out of Silence” by Peter Bouteneff, which examines the connections between Pärt’s music and the traditions of Orthodox Christianity, was recently published by St Vladimir’s Seminary press, which is one of the leading publishers of Orthodox Christian texts in the world. St Vladimir’s Seminary is also the distributor of the Arvo Pärt Centre publication “In principio. The Word in Arvo Pärt’s Music“ in the United States.