News

For the first time, the Orthodox world will be celebrating 11 July as the memorial day of Archimandrite Sophrony, the founder of the Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Essex, who passed away on this day in 1993. In November 2019, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople canonised Fr. Sophrony, naming him St.

On 1 July the Arvo Pärt Centre will open the exhibition “When you seek from almost nothing”, which will for the first time present the thoughts recorded in Arvo Pärt’s diaries to a wider audience. With its first permanent exhibition, the centre continues the series of events dedicated to Arvo Pärt’s 85th birthday.

The Arvo Pärt Centre will celebrate its 10th birthday on 22 June and has released a single with a song much loved among Estonians – Arvo Pärt’s Ukuaru Waltz. On the CD the song is performed on piano by the composer himself. The single will be officially released with a presentation on the ERR website at 12 midday on 22 June.

Adam’s Lament was commissioned by the two Capitals of Culture, Istanbul 2010 and Tallinn 2011, and the event was a joint performance for these two cities. The premiere took place on 7 June 2010 in Istanbul’s Hagia Irene concert hall within the former cathedral. Mikko Fritze, Head of the European Capital of Culture Tallinn 2011 recalls.

As of today, 20 May, the Arvo Pärt Centre is once again welcoming visitors. The centre’s exhibition has been upgraded with a small exhibit of manuscripts, which offers an insight into the composer’s creative process.

We are happy to announce that the Arvo Pärt Centre will be open again from 20 May. We will be following all the necessary regulations to maintain health and safety of our visitors and employees.

The current crisis has affected everyone. The Arvo Pärt Centre is empty, and for a while longer, we are unable to share the touch of music through our concerts, invite you to listen to the inspiring thoughts of creative people, or to journey through the composer’s life. We are all hoping that this difficult time will pass soon. Until then, we would be incredibly grateful if you could support us, so that we can keep exploring Arvo Pärt’s works, and that there would be times again to experience the music at our Centre.

The world premiere of Arvo Pärt’s "Für Jan van Eyck" will take place on 22 September in Ghent, Belgium. The initiative for creating this piece came from the Belgian choir Collegium Vocale Gent, and it was commissioned by the City of Ghent, who has dedicated the year 2020 to celebrating Jan van Eyck.

The Spanish BBVA Foundation today announced the laureate of the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the field of music, the recipient of the award is composer Arvo Pärt.

An outstanding figure in Polish music, composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki (23.11.1933–29.03.2020) has passed away. Composing steadily over many decades, he became one of the pioneers of European contemporary music. Penderecki was particularly important for starting a new wave of modern music in 1960s with his avant-garde compositions. By premiering at the Warsaw Autumn festival of contemporary music these works became also familiar to Estonian composers.

In celebration of Arvo Pärt’s 85th birthday in September, many special events have been planned in Estonia and elsewhere, as listed below. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, many long-planned concerts have been cancelled, and a festival dedicated to Arvo Pärt which was supposed to take place in April at Muziekgebouw, one of the most

Due to the state of emergency declared by the Estonian government the Arvo Pärt Centre is closed until 1 May. All previously scheduled concerts, educational programmes and guided tours have been cancelled.