| 16 – 25 JULY 2025 |
| CREDO ARVO PÄRT 90 |
| “I believe that Estonian culture is best represented through music which naturally expresses our national voice. Our country may be small, but Arvo Pärt’s iconic music is loved worldwide.” Paavo Järvi |
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| photo credit: Kaupo Kikkas |
| ◆ The 2025 Pärnu Music Festival pays tribute to Arvo Pärt on his 90th birthday and celebrates the festival’s 15th edition in Estonia’s Summer Capital. |
| ◆ This year’s programme commences with a special Järvi Academy concert at the Arvo Pärt Centre (15 July) before travelling south for 10 days of concerts in Pärnu (16 – 25 July) led by Paavo Järvi and family. |
| ◆ Paavo Järvi conducts the Estonian Festival Orchestra in four concerts (19, 20 and 24, 25 July) all featuring works by Arvo Pärt, including Silhouette – dedicated to and premiered by Paavo and the Orchestre de Paris in 2015 at the opening concert of the Paris Philharmonie – and closing the festival with Credo – the work which provoked the Soviet Regime at its 1968 premiere in Tallinn, led by Neeme Järvi. |
| ◆ Neeme Järvi and the Järvi Academy Youth Orchestra open the festival with Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten (16 July). |
| ◆ Kristjan Järvi and Nordic Pulse present Pärt Mirrored, a specially curated programme that interweaves the music of Pärt with new works and improvisations (18 July). |
| ◆ Championing Estonian music and musicians has always been an important part of the festival and this year Kalev Kuljus is soloist in the Estonian premiere of Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Oboe Concerto, co-commissioned by the festival (19 July). Further commissions include new works by Elis Hallik (20 July) and Alisson Kruusmaa (25 July), whilst violinists Hans Christian Aavik and Mari Poll, are the soloists in a performance of Tabula Rasa (20 July). |
| ◆ Additional highlights include the festival debuts of guest soloists Iveta Apkalna (24 July) and Vilde Frang (25 July) who join Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra for performances of the Poulenc Organ Concerto and Beethoven Violin Concerto in the closing concerts. |
| ◆ The Pärnu Music Festival and Järvi Academy involve more than 300 musicians, students and teachers from around the world, and is recognised as Estonia’s leading classical music summer event. Located in a secluded bay on the Baltic Sea, 130 km south of Tallinn, Pärnu is an idyllic location for those seeking the real Estonian experience. |
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| photo credit: Kaupo Kikkas |
| Credo is the title of one of Arvo Pärt’s most important and dramatic collage pieces which was famously premiered in 1968, in a performance led by Neeme Järvi. The event was a sensation: the shocked Tallinn audience demanded a repeat performance but the Soviet authorities immediately banned the work, seeing it as a political provocation. |
| “It was as though I had brought myself freedom” said Pärt, “but at the cost of renouncing everything and being left completely naked. It was like turning the new page in my life. It was a decision, a conviction in something very significant.” |
| It was only after 12 years of censorship, in 1980, that Pärt was able to leave occupied Estonia and set up a new life in Vienna in exile. In the same year Neeme Järvi managed to get his family out and over to the States. None of them were able to return home until after Estonia had regained Independence in 1991. |
| Today the meaning of the words “home” and “freedom” are more important than ever for Paavo Järvi, who was 18 when he left and 33 when he was able to return for the first time. In 2011 he created the Pärnu Music Festival in the traditional summer resort on the Baltic Sea, where he spent his happiest childhood holidays, and today the family return every July to celebrate and champion Estonian culture. |
| “I believe that Estonian culture is best represented through music which naturally expresses our national voice. Our country may be small, but Arvo Pärt’s iconic music is loved worldwide” says Paavo Järvi. “And whilst the world will be celebrating his landmark 90th birthday this year, it is doubly meaningful for us to celebrate here in Pärnu, as Arvo has been a close family friend for as long as I can remember.” |
| All the Järvi family pay tribute to Arvo Pärt at this year’s festival. Neeme Järvi leads the Academy Youth Orchestra in the opening concert with Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, followed two days later by Kristjan Järvi and Nordic Pulse in a special programme entitled “Pärt Mirrored”. |
| Paavo Järvi conducts the Estonian Festival Orchestra in four concerts featuring La Sindome, Silouette, Swan Song, Tabula Rasa, Für Lennart and Credo, the work that his father premiered under the Soviet regime when he was 5 years old. |
| “The Pärnu Music Festival has given us something which we could never have dreamt of when I was a child” says Paavo Järvi. “This is a unique place where music has a special energy and life-long friendships are forged. And in these tense times, returning and celebrating Estonian culture with friends from across the world, feels more important than ever.” |
| PÄRNU MUSIC FESTIVAL PROGRAMME 2025 |
| 15 July, Tuesday 13.00 h & 18:00 h Arvo Pärt Center, Tallinn |
| Järvi Academy Sinfonietta Järvi Academy course conductors |
| 16 July, Wednesday 20.00 h Pärnu Concert Hall |
| Järvi Academy Symphony Orchestra Neeme Järvi Arvo Pärt: Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten Mozart: Symphony No. 29 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 |
| 17 July, Thursday 20.00 h Pärnu Concert Hall |
| Järvi Academy Sinfonietta Järvi Academy course conductors |
| 18 July, Friday 20.00 h Pärnu Concert Hall |
| “Pärt Mirrored” Nordic Pulse / Kristjan Järvi Arvo Pärt: Da pacem Domine Arvo Pärt: Swan Song Arvo Pärt: Fratres Arvo Pärt: Mirror In Mirror In addition, new works by Nordic Pulse orchestra members |
| 19 July, Saturday 20.00 h Pärnu Concert Hall |
| Estonian Festival Orchestra Paavo Järvi Soloist: Kalev Kuljus (oboe) Arvo Pärt: La Sindone Erkki Sven Tüür: Oboe concerto (Estonian premiere) Arvo Pärt: Silhouette Stravinsky: Firebird Suite |
| 20 July, Sunday 20.00 h Pärnu Concert Hall |
| Estonian Festival Orchestra Paavo Järvi Soloists: Hans Christian Aavik, Mari Poll (violin) Elis Hallik: Oriri (world premiere) Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa Arvo Pärt: Silhouette Stravinsky: Firebird Suite |
| 21 July, Monday 19.00 h Pärnu Concert Hall |
| Estonian Foundation of Musical Instruments |
| 21 July, Monday 20.30 h St Elizabeth’s Church |
| Järvi Academy teachers’ concert |
| 21 July, Monday 22.00 h Pärnu Concert Hall |
| Night concert with the Pärnu City Orchestra |
| 22 July, Tuesday 18.00 h Estonian Orthodox Church |
| Vox Clamantis / Jaan Eik Tulve |
| 22 July, Tuesday 20.00 h Pärnu Concert Hall |
| Pärnu Music Festival gala |
| 23 July, Wednesday 20.00 h Pärnu Concert Hall |
| Pärnu City Orchestra & Järvi Academy Symphony Orchestra Järvi Academy course conductors |
| 24 July, Thursday 20.00 h Pärnu Concert Hall |
| Estonian Festival Orchestra / Paavo Järvi Soloist: Iveta Apkalna (organ) Arvo Pärt: Swansong Poulenc: Organ Concerto Arvo Pärt: Für Lennart Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 |
| 25 July, Friday 20.00 h Pärnu Concert Hall |
| Estonian Festival Orchestra Estonian National Male Choir Paavo Järvi Soloist: Vilde Frang (violin) Alisson Kruusmaa: Valse lente (world premiere) Beethoven: Violin Concerto Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 Arvo Pärt: Credo |
| All concerts will be streamed live for free on: https://parnumusicfestival.tv/pmf |
| https://parnumusicfestival.ee/en/home/ |
