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© Copyright 2023 Music at Oxford

ARVO PÄRT …and a Littlemore

In November 2022, Music at Oxford held a festival celebrating the long life and music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Originally conceived to celebrate the composer’s 85th birthday in 2020, the festival finally took place over two weeks in November and was the UK’s largest festival of Pärt’s music to date.

The festival featured many leading artists from across the world who’ve worked closely with Pärt including the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, O/Modernt led by Hugo Ticciati, The Carice Singers and the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet. Alongside concerts, the festival presented films exploring Pärt’s life, including the UK premiere of ‘That Pärt Feeling’ by director Paul Hegeman, and talks from leading experts in Pärt’s work from members of the Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia. There was also a series of community events including the UK premiere of a new version of Pärt’s Songs from Childhood which featured local music groups from across Oxford including five different children’s choirs. A performance of Pärt’s Littlemore Tractus also took place in the Church of St Mary & St Nicholas in Littlemore performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Pärt had written the piece for the church for the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Saint John Henry Newman.

The festival was curated and produced by Music at Oxford in partnership with the Estonian Embassy, the Arvo Pärt Centre, LHV, TORCH, New College and Trinity College from Oxford University, and the Oxford Comics Network. All our festival supporters are acknowledged at the bottom of this page.

We were pleased to see that Arvo Pärt was awarded The Polar Music Prize 2023. The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 and is one of the most prestigious and unique music prizes in the world, crossing over musical boundaries and awarded to individuals, groups and institutions in recognition of exceptional achievements.

Watch our festival video below. Music credit: Suvine Valss (Summer Waltz) from Songs from Childhood by Arvo Pärt. By kind permission of Universal Edition A.G., Wien.

Thank you for making the festival such a success

Photos from the festival

A choir sing in coats in a church for an audience of which you can see a few heads at the bottom of the shot. Their director stands in the middle facing the choir.
Two women and three men standing in front of a yellow ARVO PÄRT...and a Littlemore festival banner. Two wear chains of office.
Groups of people gather, talk and drink at an event in a low ceilinged, stone room.
Two women and three men standing in front of a yellow ARVO PÄRT...and a Littlemore festival banner. One man and one woman wear chains of office.
A shot over rows of audience with a choir singing in a blue lit, high ceilinged old stone building.
A close up of some people seated watching a choir in dark clothing singing with their director in front of them. The stone wall is lit with blue lighting.
A choir sing in the crossing of a blue lite cathedral with audience members watching in the foreground
A front on view of a group of children rehearsing on a wooden stage all wearing red long-sleeved tops singing and doing actions with their hands. An ensemble and female conductor are in front below the stage.
A side on view of a group of children all wearing red long-sleeved tops singing.
A side on view of a group of children all wearing red long-sleeved tops singing.
Close up of Man in red jacket playing piano on stage with another man playing the cello sitting in front of the piano.
Man in red jacket playing piano on stage with another man playing the cello sitting in front of the piano.
A man and a women sit in chairs below a screen and talk. A green ARVO PÄRT...and a Littlemore festival banner is on the left next to the woman.
Two men, one wearing a white jacket, the other a tweed jacket, sit in chairs below a screen and talk. The man wearing a white jacket is smiling and engaging with an audience in the foreground
Two men, one wearing a white jacket, the other a tweed jacket, sit in chairs below a screen and talk. A green ARVO PÄRT...and a Littlemore festival banner is on the left next to the man wearing a white jacket.
A woman stands behind a lectern and next to a screen showing a musical composition manuscript. Some audience members are visible in the foreground. To the left of the image is a green ARVO PÄRT...and a Littlemore festival banner.
A distant shot of a man playing the violin next to a large cross on the balcony of a church. It is lit with a soft blue light.
A side-on view of a woman standing behind a lectern in front of a stage. Some audience members are visible in the foreground. To the right of the woman is a blue ARVO PÄRT...and a Littlemore festival banner.
A man plays the trombone with a group of violinists on stage.
Two women and a man sit behind a table, the woman in the middle is talking into the microphone.
Two women and two men sit behind a desk. One of the men is talking into the microphone. A yellow ARVO PÄRT...and a Littlemore festival banner is behind them to the right of the shot.
A portrait photo from the back of the church of a choir performing with the alter behind them in front of rows of audience members.
A close up of a choir with music on stands perform
A close up of a choir with music on stands perform
A choir and organ performing with their conductor in the crossing of the cathedral. Audience members can be see sitting to the left and right of the choir with the alter at the back of the photo.
A choir and their director stand in front of the alter of a decorated church.
A choir, their director and two women composers stand in front of the alter of a decorated church.
A close-up of a saxophone quartet perform, lit with pink lighting.
A choir with a saxophone quartet sitting in front and a conductor perform. It's an old building with a black and white zig-zag floor and lit with pink lighting.
A choir with a saxophone quartet sitting in front and a conductor perform. It's an old building with a black and white zig-zag floor and lit with pink lighting.

Festival Artists

EPCC in line with sky

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) is one of the best-known Estonian music ensembles in the world and was rated one of the top 10 choirs in the world by BBC Music Magazine. They performed a community event at St Mary and St Nicholas Church in Littlemore on 18 November and officially opened the festival later that evening with a concert called Da pacem, Domine at Christ Church Cathedral.

Festival Chorus and Ensemble

As part of Music at Oxford’s ongoing commitment to provide musical opportunities for children, we brought together five local choirs to create a 180 strong Festival Chorus who gave a concert performance of Arvo Pärt’s Songs from Childhood at the Olivier Hall, St Edward’s School. The choirs were joined by an ensemble of professional players and conducted by Caroline Hobbs-Smith. The choirs involved were:

Caritas Children’s Choir
Jericho Youth Choir and the St Barnabas Choristers
Oxford City Young Singers
Oxford Youth Choirs
West Oxford Young Singers

This was the UK premiere of Pärt’s Songs from Childhood in an ensemble arrangement by Tauno Aints.

A front on view of a group of children rehearsing on a wooden stage all wearing red long-sleeved tops singing and doing actions with their hands. An ensemble and female conductor are in front below the stage.

Marcel Johannes Kits and Sten Heinoja

Duo Kits-Heinoja is a highly accomplished duo from Estonia, formed by prize-winning cellist Marcel Johannes Kits and pianist Sten Heinoja. Founded in 2013, the duo has quickly established itself as one of the most promising ensembles in Europe, performing in many countries around the world. They presented a programme of Estonian chamber music at the festival which placed music by Arvo Pärt alongside works by Erkki-Sven Tüür, Eduard Tubin, Heino Eller and more.

O/Modernt

Directed by violinist Hugo Ticciati, the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra is an integral part of O/Modernt. Comprised of top players from all over Europe, the orchestra performs eclectic and adventurous programmes, with anything from arrangements of medieval motets to Bach, Webern and Metallica. Hugo Ticciati has worked closely with Arvo Pärt, and is known equally for his inventive programmes as well as for his captivating playing. O/Modernt’s two programmes for the festival included music by J.S. Bach, Webern, Luciano Berio, Iannis Xenakis and Sting. The trombonist Jörgan van Rijen and percussionist Johan Bridger joined the orchestra for their concert, Cosmic Spaces, which took place in the Sheldonian Theatre.

O Modernt orchestra playing

The Carice Singers

The Carice Singers is emerging as one of the most distinctive vocal ensembles in the UK, defined by its unique sound and imaginative choice of repertoire.​ George Parris founded The Carice Singers in 2011, and conducted the ensemble’s first concert only a few days after his eighteenth birthday. Since then he has been the choir’s Conductor and Artistic Director, making his first recording with them for the Naxos label aged 20. Their concert had a focus on Estonian female composers and we were pleased that two of them, Galina Grigorjeva and Evelin Seppar were able to attend the festival.

The Raschèr Saxophone Quartet with the Schola Cantorum of Oxford

Since its formation in 1969, the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet has appeared regularly at major concert halls in Europe, Asia and the U.S. Now based in Freiburg, we were honoured that these superb musicians joined forces with the Schola Cantorum of Oxford for a festival finale under the direction of Steven Grahl. Andreas van Zoelen’s sensitive adaptations brought an ethereal new element to these well-known works by Pärt, with voices and saxophones fusing together seamlessly in the acoustic of Christ Church Cathedral.