Pärt-Fokus

One concert will take place with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and one with the Estonian Festival Orchestra - both under the direction of Paavo Järvi. He has had a special connection to "Uncle Arvo" since childhood.

"The Pärt focus means a lot to me. Arvo Pärt is an Estonian icon - a living legend. But even when we brought him to Zurich as Creative Chair, it wasn't just because he was Estonian. It was mainly because he is a great composer, one of the last remaining giants." Paavo Järvi

Born in Estonia in 1935, the composer was Creative Chair of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in the 2020/21 season. Since the middle of the 20th century, Arvo Pärt has helped shape music history with his very own style. After reaching a dead end as a pioneer of the avant-garde, he withdrew and spent eight years in seclusion in the 1970s to redevelop his musical language. In his unmistakable "Tintinnabuli" style, composing on the basis of just two melodic lines, he pursued a new simplicity. In a time of ever-increasing complexity in all areas of life, his music teaches us to hear seemingly simple things in a new way. This can be a triad, a scale or even silence: "Silence is like fertile ground waiting for our creative act, our seed," says Pärt. In his works, silence takes on a new quality, it becomes contemplation, listening.