The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra with conductor T\u00f5nu Kaljuste will perform the music of Arvo P\u00e4rt at four concerts in the United States \u2013 two in Washington, DC, and two in New York City. P\u00e4rt will also attend the concerts.
\nThe concerts take place at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington on 27 May, at the Phillips Collection, also in Washington, on 29 May, and in New York at the world-renowned Carnegie Hall on 31 May and the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 2 June.
\nAccording to the main presenter of the concerts, the Arvo P\u00e4rt Project, the ensembles will perform repertoire specially selected by P\u00e4rt and St. Vladimir\u2019s Orthodox Theological Seminary \u201cto evoke the spirituality of P\u00e4rt\u2019s music\u201d. \u201cThe all-P\u00e4rt programmes at the Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center include the works Fratres, Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, Adam\u2019s Lament, Salve Regina and Te Deum. The concert at the Phillips Collection is part of the museum\u2019s Leading European Composers series and will feature musicians from the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, performing chamber music, including the world premiere of a new arrangement of My Heart\u2019s in the Highlands,\u201d the organisers said. \u201cThe Met Museum Presents programme features the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, performing Kanon Pokajanen in the Temple of Dendur on Monday, 2 June.\u201d
\nP\u00e4rt\u2019s work, which ranges from choral to orchestral to solo instrumental compositions, has for the past three years been the most-performed of any living composer in the world.
\nDeveloped by New York-based St. Vladimir\u2019s Seminary\u2019s faculty members, Dr Nicholas Reeves and Dr Peter Bouteneff, the Arvo P\u00e4rt Project was inaugurated in 2011 to explore the spiritual roots of P\u00e4rt\u2019s music. P\u00e4rt, who is an Orthodox Christian, is cooperating with the seminary on this project, which includes these concerts and lectures as well as planned publications devoted to P\u00e4rt\u2019s personal spiritual narrative.
\nThe Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra were founded by T\u00f5nu Kaljuste. Both groups have been performing and recording P\u00e4rt\u2019s music for decades. This year, Kaljuste won a Grammy for the Best Choral Performance for his work on Arvo P\u00e4rt\u2019s album \u201cAdam\u2019s Lament\u201d.
\nThe concert at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington on 27 May will be presented by the Estonian Embassy in Washington and will also be attended by the Estonian President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves. This is a free and public event \u2013 seating is on a first-come-first-served basis and subject to capacity.
\nThe flagship event will be a concert presented by St. Vladimir\u2019s Seminary at New York\u2019s Carnegie Hall, where P\u00e4rt will also be presented an honorary doctorate title on sacred music by the Seminary.<\/p>\n
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