Arvo Pärt – Renowned and Unknown

On Display: 28.05.-10.09.2018

Exhibit open: Monday to Friday 10am-5pm, during events, and upon request.
Tartu College, 310 Bloor St. W. Toronto (entrance on Madison Ave.) 
Contact nr: 416 925 9405

Arvo Pärt is one of those composers in the world whose creative output has significantly changed the way we understand the nature of music. Since 1976, his unique tintinnabuli compositions have established a new musical paradigm and introduced an approach to composing that he is still using today. And, although there is no school that follows him, nor does he teach, a large part of the music of the second half of the 20th century has been strongly influenced by Pärt’s tintinnabuli compositions.

Arvo Pärt has been meditating one’s sense of belonging and has come to the conclusion that it depends on one’s goals and sources of strength. For Pärt, home is not a piece of land. Just as music surrounds us everywhere, likewise a home can be in Tallinn, as well as Berlin. But apparently, being a cosmopolitan in his creation, from time to time Pärt – like many other people – feels an urge to return to his roots.

Arvo Pärt has lived permanently in Estonia since 2010. The same year, the Arvo Pärt Centre was established in Laulasmaa on the initiative of Arvo and Nora Pärt. In collaboration with the composer himself and his family, the APC aims to create and maintain the personal archive of the composer.

The Estonian Theatre and Music Museum first put the exhibition together in 2005 to celebrate the 70th birthday of Arvo Pärt. The current exhibition is based on the updated version made in 2015.

The exhibition present the most renowned Estonian composer and is a cultural cooperation project celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia in 2018.