Tartu City Day offers a diverse cultural programme
Tartu City Government Press Release
18 June / On 29 June, Tartu City Day will be celebrated with a diverse cultural programme full of concerts, performances, walks and appreciation events. The day begins with morning coffee with the mayor and ends with a spectacular ‘Gala Freedom Concert’ on Vabaduse Avenue. This year’s Car Free Avenue will also be opened with a gala concert.
According to the Mayor of Tartu Urmas Klaas, Tartu City Day has, with its diverse programme, become a real kick-off to the summer in Tartu. ‘On Tartu City Day, we always talk about Tartu and think about Tartu; but this time, we are also talking about freedom. With City Day, we are again one step closer to our year as the European Capital of Culture, the creative concept of which speaks about the arts of survival, the skills that will help us to live better in the future and be free,’ the Mayor added.
Tartu City Day will start at 10.00, when Mayor Urmas Klaas will serve coffee and talk about the city on the terrace of Café Shakespeare.
At 11.00, the youth area of the Tartu Youth Work Center will open on Car Free Avenue, where a number of activities dedicated to Tartu will take place throughout the day, together creating a piece of art called The Tartu of My Dreams.
At noon, Lembit Saarsalu, the Tartu Sax Choir and the Big Band will assemble a mighty saxophone orchestra at Tartu’s Pirogov Square, for the concert ‘Saints Rejoice’, in honour of Tartu’s patron saints Peter and Paul. Opera singer Priit Volmer will be the special guest at the concert.
Tartu City Day also traditionally includes various recognition events. This year’s medals will be awarded at 13:00, in the Tartu City Museum, and at 17:00 the owners of the most beautiful homes and best buildings will be thanked in the Salme Street building of the Karlova School.
For years, the subtitle of Tartu City Day has been Opera Symbiosis, and this year it will take place for the seventh time. In opera symposiums, ensembles that don’t normally perform together take to the stage.
Reigo Tamm, the main organiser of Tartu City Day, considers it gratifying that Tartu City Day has become a place for experimenting, innovating and introducing opera and classical music in general. ‘In previous years, we have done opera symbioses with several spoken word theatres, and this year, inspired by the Year of Movement, we are collaborating with two dance theatres and an improvisation theatre. It’s exciting to see how opera singers and dancers, as equal partners, are telling a story together this time,’ said Tamm.
The opera symbiosis of Improtheater Impeerium will take place at 13.00 and 16.00 in the Athena Centre, with improvisation experiments performed and a new stage production created by actors Merilin Kirbits, Maarius Pärn, Tarvo Krall, singer Liis Lemsalu, and opera singer Rasmus Kull.
The choreographers-performers of Fine5 Dance Theatre, Tiina Ollesk and Renee Nõmmik, will perform Menotti’s short opera Telephone at 14.00 and 17.00 in the Tubin Hall of the Heino Eller Tartu Music College, featuring dancers Olga Privis, Simo Kruusement and Tiina Ollesk, and opera singers Maria Listra and Tamar Nugis. The music director is Piia Paemurru.
Marina Kesler, choreographer-director of the Estonian National Ballet, will bring her vision of Verdi’s famous opera Rigoletto to the Vanemuine Concert Hall at 15.00 and 18.00. Ballet dancers Anna Roberta and Jevgeni Grib and opera singers Elina Nechayeva and Rauno Elp will be on stage. The music director is Jaan Ots and the artist is Reili Evart.
The day will end with the ‘Freedom Gala Concert’, starting at 19.00 on Vabaduse Avenue. This concert about freedom is a show of support for Ukraine and an expression of gratitude to those who have helped Ukrainians through difficult times. The Opera Choir of the Kharkov National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ukraine will perform well-known and emotional choral numbers from a range of operas. The choir will be joined by this year’s Eurovision singer Alika Milova, opera singers Mirjam Mesak, Elena Bražnik, Janne Ševtšenko and Reigo Tamm, and conductor Aleksandr Bražnik with the Pärnu City Orchestra.
The gala concert will be broadcast by Estonian Television. The gala concert is free for all, as is most of the City Day programme.
This year’s Car Freedom Avenue, which runs from 29 June through 6 August, will also open with a gala concert.
The City Day programme also includes a number of exhibitions, walks, concerts, and discussions. The full timetable can be found on the website tartukorraldab.ee (in Estonian).
Additional information: Reigo Tamm, Chief Organiser of Tartu City Day, Tel: 5558-3254, [email protected]
Last changed 19.06.2023
