St. Mary Magdalene's Lutheran Church in Rapla
30.06 at 7 p.m.
CHIMES ON THE FIELDS - URMAS SISASK
Siiri Sisask
Chamber Choir Flora, conductor Kaie Sauga
Handbell Ensemble Campanelli, conductor Inna Lai
Sopranos Pille Lill, Kristel Sikk
Krista Citra Joonas bansuri, Märt Roogna guitar, shamanic drum
Raun Juurikas keyboards
Program: U. Sisask “Eesti Missa” etc.
SIIRI SISASK is Urmas Sisask's younger sister and is known in Estonia as a singer and creator who mainly performs original music. Siiri has said that Urmas's musical tastes and their long piano practice sessions at home during their youth have indirectly influenced her own musical development and palette. Siiri has released 13 CD collections so far. Various collaborations have brought her together with many musicians from both Estonia and abroad.
CHAMBER CHOIR FLORA was founded in 1989 by a group of enthusiastic young people. Today, the choir consists of almost 35 singers, some of whom are also founding members. Together with new young members, the choir has managed to keep its voice and spirit fresh and lively for 33 years. Flora's concerts express our common love for music, and the message we want to convey through our music is also essential. The conductor of Chamber Choir Flora is Kaie Sauga, whose fresh, creative, and demanding baton inspires us to reach captivating musical heights. She has also composed several pieces herself. Our repertoire includes both popular and fun songs as well as more serious choral forms. In the spring of 2013, we performed Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" at the Tallinn Old Town Days opening ceremony with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Eri Klas, together with the Voces Musicales Chamber Choir and the Kalev Chamber Choir. The choir has had a fruitful and enjoyable collaboration with the renowned violinist Lev Klychkov from the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, with whom we have performed D. Buxtehude's "MEMBRA Jesu Nostri" (2011) and A. Vivaldi's "Magnificat" (2012), as well as Max Filcke's "Missa in honorem St Caroli Borromaei" (2012). For 23 years, Chamber Choir Flora has been passionate about giving concerts in small churches in Estonia, drawing attention to these architectural landmarks. We are also proud to have participated in every song festival as part of the unified choir under the singing arch. Chamber Choir Flora has participated in various domestic and international festivals in France, Denmark, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Finland, Iceland, England, Spain, and other countries. In 1997 and 2001, we were invited as a special guest and main performer to the music festival "Joutsan Joutopäivät" in Finland.
KAIE SAUGA has been closely associated with music since birth, coming from a musical family. She studied classical violin in music school. In addition to her business and economics education at TTU, Kaie studied conducting at Tallinn University and further developed her knowledge at the Complete Vocal Institute in Copenhagen. She has participated in various workshops and summer camps related to voice, creativity, and a cappella singing, including at the Royal Academy of Music in Denmark, where her mentor was the legendary Peder Karlsson and others (The Real Group); Melissa Cross's master classes, Postyr Project summer camps, various songwriting camps, and more. Kaie has been a soloist in the band Mood Mess, a singer in the Urr Lau ensemble, a violinist and soloist in the Chacha Roots and Cantelo ensembles, and currently works as a conductor for the Flora Chamber Choir while participating in various musical and stage projects. Her latest project is as an EDM artist KEYA, where Kaie is both a singer and songwriter. In addition, she also engages in composing and vocal arrangement. Today, Kaie has successfully launched a voice and creativity training platform, where she provides opportunities for both beginners and advanced learners to discover and develop their abilities. Collaborations in voice and inspiration have been made with choirs, ensembles, and soloists (such as OLLIE, Horror Dance Squad, Juur, and others). In addition, she has participated in singing and band competitions as a judge, mentored various bands, and led creative team-building training for companies.
HANDBELL ENSEMBLE CAMPANELLI has been operating in Nõmme Cultural Centre since 2005. The ensemble's bell collection consists of 186 bells. Campanelli often uses various soloists in their concerts, with the most extreme being a saw player in an American concert and a church tower bell player in Jaroslavl. During the time of its operation, the ensemble has given over 300 concerts. Campanelli has successfully performed in Finland, Russia, and America. The most extreme concert tour took place in January 2015, in Siberia, where they gave concerts in eight Russian cities, braving temperatures of -40 degrees Celsius. Campanelli is fortunate to have the "patron composer" of the ensemble, American Susan T. Nelson, who has composed over 200 wonderful pieces for handbells and often prefers Campanelli as the performer of her works. The ensemble and composer have had three exceptional meetings, two of which were made into documentaries and are available on DVD. Campanelli has also released three CD albums.
INNA LAI graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EMTA) in music pedagogy and choir conducting. She first encountered handbell music in the United States in 1991, and it was love at first sight. In 2005, she founded her handbell ensemble Campanelli and a young handbell studio KellaRing. That same year, she also began performing as a soloist. While there are many handbell ensembles around the world, there are very few solo performers, making it an exciting challenge to showcase handbell music in places where there is little space for an ensemble. Inna has performed solo concerts in Estonia, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Israel, Russia, the United States, and Japan. She has also performed under the auspices of the Estonian Concert series, including school concerts and "Let's Make Music Ourselves". In 2017, the Nõmme District Government awarded her the title of "Nõmme Person of the Year 2017".
PILLE LILL is one of the most well-known opera singers in Estonia today. She has graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT) with two professions – choir conducting and opera singing. She continued her studies in the master’s program of the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Prof. J. Peters) and defended her master’s degree at the Helsinki Sibelius Academy (Prof. L. Linko-Malmio). In 2004-2011 she furthered her skills in the context of doctoral studies at EAMT (Prof. Jaakko Ryhänen) and in 2005-2006 in the lied class of the University of Karlsruhe (professors Mitsuko Shirai and Hartmuth Höll). In addition, she has taken part of several world-famous musicians’ master classes (Elisabeth Söderström, Irwin Gage, Emma Kirkby, Mauriz Sillem, Wilma Vernocchi etc.) P. Lill has performed as an opera, oratorio and chamber singer in many countries. She has sung the lead role in close to 30 operas and she has cooperated with several reputed conductors. She has done many recordings for the Estonian National Broadcasting and her voice is perpetuated on a number of CD-s. P. Lill has been rewarded with the Big Dipper award for Best Female Singer (1996), she has been a laureate for Georg Ots Prize (2002), she has been a grantee of the Wagner Society Scholarship (1998) and a 3rd class honoree of the Order of Bishop Platon (2005). She has also been awarded with the UNICEF Bluebird Award (2009), the Estonian Cultural Endowment Award (2014), 4th class Order of the White Star (2016) and Esther of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Estonia of Estonia. P. Lill was a vocal teacher in EAMT from 1997 to 2013 (assistant professor from 2003) and she has given master classes in many countries (Germany, Russia, Finland, Belarus, Latvia etc.) P. Lill was a board member of Estonian Composers’ Union from 2003-2009, she is a board member of the Estonian Chamber of Culture and the Finno-Estonian Culture Fund. She is also the founder and creative director of the Pille Lill Music Foundation from 2003.
RAUN JUURIKAS is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and music producer who has studied at Tallinn Music High School, Nõmme Music School (in Eero Läte's piano class), graduated from Georg Ots Tallinn Music School where he studies piano with Aldo Meristo, and completed a composition major under the guidance of professor Toivo Tulev at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. Among Raun's creative challenges is composing for various ensembles in a wide range of styles, including contemporary classical, jazz, ambient, hip hop, reggae, dub, experimental electronic, and funk. In addition, he has done programming work in a DSP modular environment, designed interactive sound environments, composed original music for a couple of documentaries, created sound installations for landscapes, curated playlists, performed with contemporary classical ensembles, and taught music.
URMAS SISASK began his composition studies in 1971 at the Tallinn Music High School under the guidance of Anatoli Garšnek, René Eespere, and Mati Kuulberg. He continued his studies in René Eespere's composition class at the Tallinn State Conservatory, which he graduated from in 1985. From 1985, his activity was connected with Jäneda, where he worked as an artistic director of the cultural center until 1998, as a music teacher until 2000, and as the conductor of several music collectives, including the Jäneda Chamber Choir. In 1994, the so-called Music Star Tower was completed in the Jäneda manor house tower, where Urmas Sisask also opened his own planetarium in 1996. He made astronomical observations and organized numerous lecture-concerts in the Music Star Tower. Most of his music was also created there, of which a significant part is dedicated to celestial bodies and constellations. Urmas has received the Estonian Culture Award (1990), the Order of the White Star, 4th Class (2001), the Järva County Badge of Honor (2001), the Estonian Defense Forces Special Services Cross (2004), the Veljo Tormis Scholarship (2007), the IRL National Culture Association Annual Award (2009), the Estonian Radio Musician of the Year Award (2010), the Estonian Cultural Endowment Annual Award (2010), and the Estonian Music Council Award (2020).