Loomelabor summer school premieres 16 new works

The 12th Loomelabor composition summer school brought together 16 young participants in Viljandi from August 2 to 8, with each completing a new work, ERR reported.

The programme brought together young people interested in composition, professional composers and performers. The summer school is distinctive because participants write music each year for a new ensemble, while all instructors remain present throughout the programme to lead workshops and offer consultations.

The participants included pupils and students from across Estonia who either study composition or have an interest in it. They were guided by composers Tauno Aints, Liis Jürgens and Margo Kõlar, accordionist Mikk Langeproon, French horn player Nikita Matsuk, and director and screenwriter Rasmus Merivoo.

At the final concert on August 8, the participants performed 16 new works inspired by a comic by Merivoo. His involvement also gave the young composers an insight into how film music is created, in addition to developing their collaboration skills with instrumentalists and their understanding of the instruments.

Aints said the summer school had brought together an exceptional combination of film and classical music. Merivoo, who took part in Loomelabor for the first time, described the programme as a laboratory where the same story could be told through 16 different composers.

Kõlar said Merivoo’s participation, along with the work of Langeproon and Matsuk, helped the young composers expand the boundaries of their musical worlds. The participants explored different moods and contrasting characters, he said, adding that the programme had given them encouragement, inspiration, technical readiness and collaboration experience.

The composition summer school is organised by the Estonian Music Fund, which operates under the Estonian Composers’ Union and works to support the development of a new generation of young composers.