Event Guide

ESTONIA

November 07, Indian dance Concert “Sharadchandra”, Kumu Auditorium, Tallinn

Ipshita Rajesh is presenting classical South-Indian dance Bharatanatyam through Life in Technicolour, a dance drama focusing on the eight emotions described in the Natyashastra. These emotions are shown through stories from Ramayana, told by dance. For more info please go to www.ipshita-rajesh.com 

November 08-12, 7th Jazz Festival IDeeJazz 2017, Tartu 

IDeeJazz, the festival of good vibes will once again bring energy, joy and inspiration to the Estonian autumn. Top artists in the world from nine different countries are going to fill prime stages in Tartu and Narva with charisma and artistic expression. For four days in the middle of November darkness, the festival will bring out the sun! IDeeJazz – good vibes with any kind of weather. This year, IDeeJazz could be titled the festival of good vibes and empathy, since its program connects two very different Estonian cities – Tartu and Narva. For the seventh year in Tartu and, due to the centenary of the Republic of Estonia (EV100), the first time in Narva, the festival of music and ideas invites all the people of Estonia and also foreign guests to get charged – positively charged. Altogether, the two cities will host 18 select concerts! The goal of Tartu’s international jazz and rhythm music festival IDeeJazz is to place Tartu and Narva on the global map of jazz culture by bringing some of the top representatives of jazz from Estonia, Europe and several continents to the stages in both cities. The festival will feature world-class musicians from Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, the US, Poland, Russia, Morocco, Finland and, of course, Estonia. For more information please visit the festival’s official web page www.ideejazz.ee

November 09-10, Festival “Crazy Tartu”, Tartu

Festival Tartu is an international interdisciplinary festival where writers, poets, musicians and artists from Estonia and abroad come to perform. One of the main principles of the festival is to bring as many unprecedented performances to the audience as possible. This principle is also followed when choosing the venue for the event. Each year, a piece of art is unveiled for the first time in the new environment. Find out more about the festival at www.tartu.kirjandus.ee/eng

Open till November 13, Jewelry Exhibition “Close” by Maiu Mooses, A-Gallery, Tallinn

The author says, “The word close came to me two years ago. First, the title of the exhibition was born. Then this was put on hold and started a life of its own. In the initial phase of planning the exhibition, I observed a log, received as a gift from Pille. Its surface had a wavy movement. The pieces cut from the log showed me the direction. During the process, I made several sketches that I gradually dropped and moved on. New forms developed while following my own life and activities.”

November 17-26, Children’s and Youth Film Festival “Just Film”, Apollo Kino Mustamäe, Apollo Kino Solaris, Kino Kosmos, Tallinn

Just Film is a children’s and youth film festival held during the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF). It takes place in November each year, similarly to PÖFF's main program and consists of competition and special programs. The list of movies shown includes works that even the greatest movie enthusiast cannot easily get their hands on. Some of these make the audience cry, some make them laugh, others change their lives. Each visitor, regardless of their age group, will surely find something suitable for them. Each year, approximately 50 movies are shown and the large audience of Just Film has made it one of the largest Estonian children’s and youth festivals – nearly 12,000 movie enthusiasts visit the festival each year. Learn more about the festival at www.justfilm.ee 

November 17 – December 03, Black Nights Film Festival, Tallinn

Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) is one of the largest and most distinctive film festivals in Northeastern Europe, and the only one in the region which belongs among the top 15 film festivals in the world. The festival consists of a number of different events: three full-scale sub-festivals (“Animated Dreams”, “Just Film”, and “Sleepwalkers”) and international film industry events, which bring films and filmmakers from more than 70 countries from America to Asia to Tallinn. Everything that is happening around PÖFF is about as extensive as the festival program itself – there are many film-themed special events (parties, concerts, exhibitions, lectures, etc.). PÖFF's film program includes two international competition programs presenting the freshest and most intriguing films from all over the world, from among which the international jury selects those that will be awarded at the festival's closing ceremony. Fashion Cinema deals with the hot topics of the fashion world and tells the stories of some exciting people; Gourmet Cinema joins food gourmetism and film experience; Doc@PÖFF brings the most current documentary films of the latest year to the viewer; Panorama and Forum offer an extensive overview of the past year’s exotic finds and hits from other film festivals. PÖFF takes place in Tallinn and Tartu. All official info on the festival is available at www.2017.poff.ee 

 

LATVIA

November 03, Concert “Elgar and Enigma” by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Great Guild, Riga

Distinguished maestro Vassily Sinaisky, a former artistic director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, is revisiting Riga to conduct Latvian classical composer Janis Ivanovs’ beautiful unfinished Symphony No. 21, which once received its first performance under his baton. Alongside Ivanovs’ piece – Sergei Prokofiev’s breathtaking Piano Concerto No. 1 with Jorge Gonzalez Buajasan, the Paris-educated shooting star of European piano art. The second part of the program features tranquil English romanticist Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations”, a portrayal of the composer's friends, including “Nimrod” as its easily recognizable centerpiece. To buy tickets please go to www.bilesuparadize.lv

November 06-12, Autumn Sigulda Restaurant Week, various restaurants in Sigulda

As part of Sigulda Restaurant Week, guests are invited to enjoy three-course meals from a selection of nine restaurants in Sigulda and the surrounding area. Each restaurant will offer meal sets for two prices – 15 and 20 euros. Five Sigulda restaurants will be welcoming food lovers throughout the week – Aparjods, Garsas Frekvence, Fazenda, Sigulda and Gadalaiki, as well as another four restaurants in the surrounding area – Kungu Rija, Birinu Pils Restorans, Malpils Muizas Restorans and Ramkalnu Restorans. The restaurant offers will be made available on Sigulda social networks and at the restaurants themselves from November 1. The organizers of Sigulda Restaurant Week kindly recommend those who wish to enjoy a meal at one of the participating restaurants to book a table ahead of time. For more info please visit www.tourism.sigulda.lv 

Open till November 12, Maris Subacs Solo Exhibition “Happiness Knows the World”, Riga Art Space, Riga

The exhibition Happiness Knows the World (Laime Pazīst Pasauli) is a retrospective solo exhibition by the unique personality, artist and poet in one, Maris Subacs, whose visually meditative and short-spoken labyrinth construction will look for the fundamental key of truth at the main hall of the Riga Art Space.

Open from November 16, Dita Luse Solo Exhibition “The Anatomy of Light”, Museum LV, Riga

The characteristic of Dita Luse’s paintings is lightness – the presence of air and light. The artist explores light in all of its expressions – this exhibition, in addition to direct impressions of nature, has also been inspired by x-ray photos of humans, animals and plants. The entrance to the exhibition is free of charge.

Open from November 17, Exhibition “Recent Acquisitions of The Latvian National Museum of Art”, National Museum of Art Exhibition Space Arsenals, Riga

What are the typical traits of Latvian art in the 21st c? What are the current trends? What questions does it ask? What values does it affirm, question or reject? How does it reflect the given era? What artworks in the museum's storeroom represent the 21st c? These are the questions that the exhibition and its program of sideline events will look to answer through a debate with participation of artists, museum experts and the general public. The Latvian National Museum of Art is the largest depository of professional art in Latvia. Its collection lists more than 100,000 works of art and keeps growing, providing an ever broadening and more detailed picture of the history of Latvian art – its development, accomplishments and deflections, highlighting the role of certain personalities.

November 23, Concert by British Jazz and Soul Singer ALA.NI, Latvian Radio Studio 1, Riga

Within the frameworks of the Art Of Riga Jazz concert series the talented and fairy tale like soul and jazz singer ALA.NI will perform together with guitarist Thomas Naïm. ALA.NI, who released her stunning debut album You & I last year, is living proof that it can be a good thing to allow a talent to mature. Her music is like a siren song luring you to a place where you may not want to go, but once you realize it, it's too late – she has you captivated. ALA.NI draws on classic Hollywood musicals and old folk songs, and adds a magical fairy tale-like touch to them. Learn more at www.rigasritmi.lv and for tickets purchase please visit www.bilesuserviss.lv 

November 25, Baltic Symphony Festival, Concert “Two-Fourths, Tuur, Schumann”, Great Guild Riga

Restrained on the outside, but seething with emotion inside, the world-famous Estonian composer Erkii Sven Tuur in his Symphony No. 4 depicts magma boiling in the entrails of Earth (and other planets). Tuur says the dramatic tension in Magma comes from a meeting of a dark granite mass and a transparent cloud of crystal latticework. Percussions play a huge role in this strong symphonic experience, and in the Riga concert, this part will be in the skillful hands of soloist Guntars Freibergs. Symphony No. 4 by Robert Schumann – a gentle echo of the Classical period in the era of Romanticism – provides a counterweight to the program. Kristiina Poska, First Kapellmeister at Komische Oper Berlin, will show her dazzling talent to the audience in Riga for the first time, and we are looking forward to it with much excitement. To buy tickets please go to www.bilesuparadize.lv

 

LITHUANIA 

Open till November 07, Contemporary Music Festival GAIDA 2017, various venues in Vilnius

The GAIDA Festival is the largest and most prominent festival of modern music in Lithuania and in all of the Baltic countries. This is one of the most important music forums in Central and Eastern Europe. Events of the GAIDA Festival are always associated with new ideas of modern times, highest quality and innovations. During the last 10 years, the GAIDA Festival has become a prestigious event, not only for Lithuanian music lovers, but also for international audiences that numerously attend concerts of the festival. GAIDA Festival is open to music and innovative art of all different traditions and all geographical sources. The festival reflects and presents a broad sweep of the latest creative processes and newest musical tendencies in Europe and the world. GAIDA introduces Vilnius audiences to the finest achievements of world contemporary music, the most famous musicians are invited to the festival and the most impressive works are performed. GAIDA presents creations from many different genres, from symphonic orchestra concerts to electronic music, innovative multimedia projects, musical theatre, sound installations and club events. The events of GAIDA Festival take place in the main concert halls of Vilnius: the National Philharmonic, National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Congress Concert Hall, National Drama Theatre, Arts Printing House, Contemporary Art Centre and others. Full information on the festival is available at www.vilniusfestivals.lt and for ticket purchase please visit www.bilietai.lt

November 09-12, XV Vilnius Gospel Music Festival, various venues in Vilnius

The XV Vilnius Gospel Music Festival will present performers who are already familiar to the Lithuanian audience, and those who have never performed in Lithuania before. The Vilnius Gospel Music Festival was first organized in 2001, and since then has been the first and the largest event in Lithuania, where only gospel music is performed. Previous festivals hosted choirs, ensembles, soloists and conductors from Ukraine, Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and the US. The organizer of the festival is the Young Women’s and Young Men’s Christian Association (YWCA-YMCA Lithuania). Full information on the festival is available at www.vilniusgospel.lt and for ticket purchase, please visit www.bilietai.lt

November 09-19, European Film Forum Scanorama, Vilnius cinema theatres

European Film Forum Scanorama is one of the most distinctive cultural events in Lithuania. The film festival has become the highlight of cultural life in fall every year. In November, Scanorama visits the four largest cities of the country (Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda and Siauliai). Extending over twenty days, it is a forum for films from all over Europe, presenting more than a hundred films by European directors of various formats and genres. Having started as a Nordic film festival back in 2003, Scanorama draws inspiration from both cinema legends like Ingmar Bergman, as well as such avant-garde cinema movements as Dogma 95. Please go to www.scanorama.lt for more information.

November 10-24, International Accordion Festival, various concert halls in Vilnius

International Oceans spring from little waters. Accordion music in Lithuania sprang from folk music rivulets and in time has streamed forth into rivers and oceans. The founders of professional accordion schools and organizers of the International Accordion Festival should be credited for such a transformation. Having been in action for over two decades, the International Accordion Festival has sold out halls, and proved the true worth of the accordion – especially its versatility and attractiveness. Today the accordion repertoire fascinates its audience with a variety of genres and its performers’ outstanding virtuosity and concert geography. The superlatives used to describe the art of accordion music are impressive: refined, sophisticated, versatile, resourceful, playful, luxurious, splendid, intriguing, shocking, etc. The accordion appears in the world’s prestigious concert halls performing transcriptions of baroque and classical masterpieces, original contemporary music, folklore, jazz and tango, French chanson, techno, electronic, experimental and world music. Additional information on the festival can be found at www.akordeonofestivalis.lt and for ticket purchase please visit www.bilietai.lt

November 15-19, International Jazz Festival “Vilnius Mama Jazz 2017”, various venues in Vilnius

Due to its readiness to feature all styles and trends of jazz music with the emphasis on quality, individuality, and relevance of the music, the festival is a singular celebration. The Vilnius Mama Jazz Festival has over the years become one of the largest events in the capital. The festival program features the music of world famous performers, Lithuanian jazz maestros, and joint international projects. Organizers of the festival have their fingers on the pulse of the world jazz scene and offer audiences in Vilnius a wide range of music from the jazz palettes of Europe, the Americas, Asia, and other continents for their entertainment and enjoyment. The festival nurtures and supports Lithuanian jazz culture and traditions, promotes the creative work of professional Lithuanian jazz musicians, and publishes information about the most interesting ideas and most successful projects in Lithuania. The particularly high level of professionalism of the festival participants, and a flexible ticketing system have determined that the festival is not only popular with listeners from Vilnius, but appeals to those all over Lithuania. The festival takes place in 3 different venues in Vilnius: the Congress Hall, the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, and the Russian Drama Theatre. After the concerts, there are usually jam sessions in the live music club Tamsta and the hotel Holiday Inn Vilnius with the participation of musicians from Lithuania and elsewhere. For full information on the festival please visit www.vilniusmamajazz.lt