Tallinn chamber music festival opens with folklore inspired programme

ERR reports that the weeklong Tallinn Chamber Music Festival began on Saturday under the title “Folklore Bridges”, bringing Estonian and international leading musicians to historic concert venues in Tallinn’s Old Town.

Across eight concerts, the festival will present classical and contemporary works rooted in folk music, including several world premieres.

The festival, which has been held for more than 20 years, received the European Festivals Association’s quality label this year. It will also honour composer Robert Jürjendal, who was commissioned to write a work specifically for the event.

“It is a great joy that Jürjendal is with us here,” artistic director Anna Liisa Bezrodny said. She added that the opening concert dedicated to him would feature his early works, while the final concert on August 29 would include his newest work, his first violin concerto, which is dedicated to her.

Bezrodny said she wanted to create a whole in which people and musicians from different parts of the world would come together.