Hirvo Surva says conducting song festival can make vision go black

Experienced conductor Hirvo Surva told ERR’s Vikerraadio programme Vikerhommik that his vision can briefly go black when he steps up to conduct at a song festival. He said the responsibility of leading a large choir is so great that he sometimes feels he needs to check the score before the performance begins.

Surva has had a busy summer, travelling with the boys’ choir of Estonia National Opera to Lithuania, Germany and North America.

The choir’s summer began in June in Lithuania, where it gave concerts and performed Kreek’s Requiem with a Lithuanian boys’ choir on the anniversary of the deportations. Between the two concert days, the choir took part in a competition in Kaunas, arriving shortly before its performance.

“It was quite a fun sight when we walked along the street at a fairly brisk pace while warming up by singing. I was in front doing exercises, and the boys ran along and followed me. We practically went straight there, managed to walk across the stage once, and then went to sing,” Surva recalled.

The choir competed both as a boys’ choir and as a men’s choir, bringing home first and second places as well as the grand prix.

In early July, the boys’ choir took part in Viljandi Men’s Singing Day. The musicians then had a month’s rest before beginning a longer concert tour.

The 10-day tour began in Berlin, where the 27th edition of the Euro Young Classic orchestral festival was held. Surva said the boys’ choir’s solo concert was unusual in the festival’s history because no choir had previously performed its own solo concert there. The concert was held to a full house and was also recorded by German radio.

“It was truly an experience for both me and the boys. Just getting into a hall like that is quite a big thing,” he said.

On long foreign trips, a conductor’s role involves more than making music. Surva said he must care for the boys and be a father, grandfather, friend, conductor and colleague to them at the same time. He considers the last role particularly important.

“You cannot make music by giving orders. We do it as colleagues, no matter how young the person making the music is,” he said.

The choir spent three days in Berlin before travelling on to New York. The choir members stayed in a hostel with a large communal kitchen, where Surva cooked breakfast for 55 people.

During the trip to Toronto, the choir members stayed at Tartu College, where the boys had separate rooms and kitchens. This time, the ingredients for breakfast were prepared in advance and the boys cooked for themselves.

“At times it was quite fun when the smoke alarms suddenly started ringing and everything was burning. But they all got fed. That is how we learn to live. It is a valuable experience for them,” Surva said.

The youngest singer on the trip was 10 years old. The Estonia boys’ choir has developed a system in which older singers look after younger ones. Homesickness and other ordinary problems also arise during trips. Besides the conductor, the boys were supported by other supervisors and the tour manager.

Surva said what stayed with him most from the trip was the boys’ ability to cope in tense situations.

“They are admirable. The way they can pull themselves together when necessary, they really do it,” the conductor said.

“That mutual trust and making music together are simply very, very rewarding moments, when you can enjoy what comes back to you. When it also reaches the audience and the feedback is good, those are the moments that make this work worthwhile,” he said.

Surva, who has worked as a conductor for more than 40 years, said he values the experience that comes with time and teaching. He said he now feels more than before that he knows how to do something in his profession.

“I also feel now that you learn in every rehearsal and every day,” he said.