Festival organisers seek new ways for audiences to hear music

Festival organisers are increasingly looking for unusual ways to present music and offer audiences something new, musician Villu Veski told Vikerraadio, ERR reported.

Veski and musician Tiit Kalluste will mark International Music Day on October 1 with performances at secondary schools in Vastseliina and Põlva. The pair have two main programmes, “Voices of the Northern Islands” and “Tango Nuevo”, and adapt much-loved pieces to the venue and occasion. They began by playing old-time swing, Veski said, and their performance will draw on three musical genres.

Discussing whether jazz has a place at jazz festivals, Veski said British journalists had recently questioned whether the Jazzkaar festival was still jazz, while describing it as exciting. He said festival organisers aim to promote concerts as events audiences can discover for the first time. Traditional jazz may now be less prominent, he added, but improvisation can happen in any kind of music.

Veski said he had recently attended a jazz service in Copenhagen featuring a sermon and traditional jazz. He noted that, according to what he had heard, similar concerts take place twice a week in nearly every church in Denmark, attracting people who might not otherwise go to church.

He also said a jazz festival’s headline act, such as Sting, can draw a crowd that then hears jazz and may return for more. Veski said the arrival of young, talented saxophonists brings him great joy.