EMTA unveils autumn season of young performers and international projects

The Estonian Music and Theatre Academy, known as EMTA, will present concerts, productions and international cooperation projects this autumn, ERR reports. The season will feature the Müriaadfest showcase festival from October 20 to 24 and the launch of a new concert series called Kontrastid.

The season opens on August 28 with a joint concert with the Sibelius Academy, part of the University of the Arts Helsinki. The Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra will perform at EMTA’s Great Hall under conductor Susanna Mälkki. The programme, titled “Fairy Tales and Symphonies”, includes works by Ravel, Sibelius and Beethoven. Thirteen EMTA students will also take part.

According to Henry-David Varema, EMTA’s vice rector for creative activities and international relations, the concert marks the beginning of an international collaboration lasting throughout the academic year. Joint orchestra projects with the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music will continue in spring 2027, including concerts in Vilnius and Riga and exchanges of students and soloists.

In September, EMTA’s opera studio will stage Alessandro Scarlatti’s Baroque opera “La fedeltà”, with its orchestration restored by Eduard Tubin. The concert production will be conducted and musically directed by Mihhail Gerts. It will be performed at the University of Tartu’s aula on September 17 and at EMTA’s Great Hall on September 19.

The new Kontrastid concert series will begin this autumn in EMTA’s chamber hall. The series will explore contrasts between musical ideas, styles and ensembles, with a focus on fresh and creative concepts in musical language, performance practice and concert structure. The opening concert on October 2 will feature Lithuania’s Diamanti Trio.

On October 10, EMTA and the Estonian Music Therapy Association will organise an evening of therapeutic music. The programme will run from the afternoon until late evening, with concerts, workshops and sound journeys taking place in EMTA’s black box, chamber hall and multimedia centre. Activities will be available for children and adults.

The five day Müriaadfest showcase festival will open EMTA’s doors to the public and present an overview of the academy’s creative work through concerts, productions, discussions, open classes and other events.

The festival will open with a performance by the EMTA Wind Orchestra, featuring clarinettist Isabell Runge and trumpeter Indrek Vau as soloists. Toomas Vavilov will conduct. The festival will also mark the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth. At the closing concert, young saxophonist Ganmin Xie will perform as soloist with the EMTA Symphony Orchestra. The programme will include works by Debussy, Ibert and Eduard Tubin, conducted by Mihhail Gerts.

On November 11, EMTA’s School of Dramatic Arts will premiere “Lavaka katsed: avalik”, the first diploma work by its 33rd graduating class. The production will be directed by course supervisor Tiit Ojasoo and staged in the school’s black box theatre.

From November 22 to 27, EMTA will host the Estonian competition for wind and percussion players. The event will give young instrumentalists an opportunity to test themselves and map the level and development trends of wind and percussion playing in Estonia. The final concert will take place on November 27 in cooperation with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.

Rein Rannap and Leelo Tungal’s children’s opera “Metsalaulupidu”, which premiered last year, will return in December. In addition to EMTA’s Great Hall, the production will be presented in Tartu, Pärnu and Jõhvi.