Saturday 15 November 2025 The Olivier Hall, St Edward’s School

90 YEARS OF ARVO PÄRT: OUR GARDEN

Arvo Pärt’s Our Garden is a piece with a smile on its face – lively, jaunty and dramatic. It was written expressly for children to sing, and was one of the composer’s earliest works, before his aesthetic had settled into the more meditative style we know him by today. At this concert it’s performed by local children’s choirs, with singing mentors from the National Youth Choir joining the team as well as a small ensemble of professional musicians. The piece will be performed alongside selections from Pärt’s other work for children’s choir Songs from Childhood.

This concert will have a BSL interpreter and will be great for families.

Featuring the UK premiere of a new arrangement of Our Garden for ensemble by Tauno Aints.

The new arrangement was commissioned by the AVROTROS Friday concert, National Youth Choir with the generous support of Anna Gustafson, Vienna State Opera Children’s Choir and Young People’s Chorus. The world premiere will take place on Friday 10 October 2025 by the Dutch National Children’s Choir and musicians from the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in the AVROTROS Friday Concert series.

Part of 90 Years of Arvo Pärt: A Reflection, staged with the collaboration of the Arvo Pärt Centre, Estonian Embassy in London and the Estonian Ministry of Culture.

Photo credit: Matthew Johnson Photographer

Programme

Our Garden

Arvo Pärt

Songs from Childhood

Arvo Pärt

Performers

Festival Children's Chorus:

Caritas Children's Choir, St Edburg's School Choir, Europa School Choir, St. Barnabas Choristers, Oxford City Young Singers, Checkendon C.E. Primary School Choir, Oxford Youth Choirs