Arvo Pärt's transcendent music is one of the defining soundworlds of the last 30 years. Through media, concerts and recordings his work has crossed boundaries of religion, race and culture and established itself as one of the most popular and recognisable features of the contemporary musical landscape. This two day conference, to be held in celebration of Arvo Pärt's 75th birthday, and with the composer in attendance throughout, is presented in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music.
Arvo Pärt conference: Soundtrack of an age
24 - 25 September 2010
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
Click here for more information and tickets | Conference Schedule

Composer Arvo Pärt was born in Paide, Estonia, on 11 September 1935. That means he celebrates his 75th birthday today. Maestro Pärt has been composing music since the 1950s and his catalogue of compositions is quite extensive. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the composer for the his wonderful music and wish him many more years of inspired creativity. For more information about his life, see the Biographical Notes page of this website.

ECM has released a recording of Arvo Pärt's Symphony no. 4 «Los Angeles». This recording contains the three movements of Symphony no. 4 (Con sublimità - Affanoso - Deciso), plus Fragments from the Kanon Pokajanen (1997), and it is performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and The Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Essa-Pekka Salonen. Composed almost 40 years after his 1971 Symphony no. 3, this new piece was premiered in the UK at the Royal Albert Hall on 20 August 2010.
The CD of Arvo Pärt's Symphony no. 4 «Los Angeles» is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Organised in collaboration with the Estonian Ministry of Culture, the State Concert Institute Eesti Kontsert, the City of Paide, the City of Rakvere and Estonian Public Broadcasting, and coinciding with the composer's 75th birthday on 11 September, the Arvo Pärt Festival 2010 is under way in the cities of Tallinn, Paide and Rakvere, in the Estonian Republic. The festival will culminate in two concerts on 11 September in Paide (12pm) and Rakvere (7pm), which will feature Symphony no. 3 and Our Garden. See the Nargen Festival website for more details.

Arvo Pärt's new work "Adam's Lament" will have its world premiere on 7 June 2010 (8pm) at the 38th International Istanbul Music Festival. "Adam's Lament" was commissioned jointly by the 2010 and 2011 European Capitals of Culture, Istanbul and Tallinn. The piece will be performed by the Borusan İstanbul Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Vox Clamantis. The composer will be presented with the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award before the concert. Another concert on 11 June 2010 (8pm), Homage a Schumann and Pärt, will feature the Turkish premiere of Pärt's "Symphony no. 4 "Los Angeles", performed by the Akbank Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Cem Mansur, and the cellist Antonio Meneses. There will be a pre-concert lecture in Turkish with Cem Mansur on "Schumann and Pärt" at 7pm at the Hagia Eirene Museum Cloisters.