Holger Marjamaa pursued musical dreams through freezing hardship

Pianist Holger Marjamaa said on ERR’s Ringvaade programme that he has pursued his dreams without wanting to regret anything, even during periods when he struggled with the cold and financial insecurity.

“I have always loved music so much, and perhaps that radiates from me,” Marjamaa said. He will soon share a stage in Estonia with Take 6, the ten-time Grammy-winning vocal group.

Marjamaa said the two artists will also release a joint track on his new album, Rhapsody. He has divided his life between European and US stages for years, first travelling to the United States at 18. At 22, he enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music.

“It was a good way to get into America. That is where it all began,” Marjamaa recalled.

He said he had experienced periods that could be described as those of a freezing artist. “There were moments when I was in my room in a Washington Heights apartment without heating, thinking that I had five blankets and was still cold. I have definitely experienced that, but you have to pursue your dreams. I have always felt that I do not want to regret anything in my life,” he said.

Now 33, Marjamaa said he had learned to enjoy the journey much more, and that many beautiful things had happened as a result.

His mother, Kristiina Liivik, said Marjamaa had always been a source of support and joy for the family. As a child, he sang well, took part in folk dancing and painted, but especially enjoyed performing and sharing his joy with others.

Liivik recalled that Marjamaa was once too young to enter a bar at Finland’s PoriJazz festival to jam with internationally known musicians. She said he was helped in through a bar window, crawled onto the stage, played his solo and crawled out through a rear window. The security guards merely shrugged and accepted what had happened.

Marjamaa’s financial situation became more secure in 2018, when he began touring with Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti. He said emotional connections with music and fellow musicians were important to him, as they also created new contacts.

“It is very important for a musician not to serve themselves but their audience. When music comes first, many beautiful things can happen,” he said.

At the same time, Marjamaa said touring constantly around the world was extremely exhausting. His greatest wish had been to make his own music and play every note on stage as he felt it in his heart. That was why he left Botti’s band.