Open your eyes and heart at the Tallinn Winter Festival

TALLINN - We think the music that surrounds us tells a story about our own experiences. Sad melodies resonate with our deepest pain or failed expectations; the most joyful tunes reflect our happiness, which usually includes the moments of our lives that we do not want to forget.
But sometimes music is something bigger. It pulls us out of our frames, providing an opportunity to see a completely different story that is not similar to ours and which is told to prove something. This is what the 6th Tallinn Winter Festival is ready to offer. Estonia’s top soloists and young artists from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater gather under the motto “Open your eyes, open your hearts” to perform in five concerts at the Tallinn Town Hall, Hopner House and St. Charles Church from Feb. 20 – 28.

The creator and sponsor of the festival is The Pille Lill Music Fund (PLMF), established in 2003 to support the development of talented professional musicians who produce serious music. The Tallinn Winter festival embodies this goal, for the past five years income from the event has been directed to disabled children from the Kao Day Center, NGO Nirk in Tallinn, and the Children Home in Saaremaa.
“We have grown an understanding amongst our audience that talented artists are not just focused on their careers but [they] notice and want to contribute to ease problems in our society,” says Pille Lill, the Artistic Director and founder of PLMF.

What does this year’s festival have in the package? The sounds of Mozart, Schumann and Bach. The magical interpretations of flute, violin, piano, cello and, of course, the voice. The soloists Andreas Lend, Virgo Veldi, Oksana Sinkova, Oliver Kuusik, Sigrid Kuulmann and Kristina Kriit. All of it will be accompanied by a great atmosphere created by those who appreciate the music and emotions around it.

Moreover, the sixth festival begins another tradition – launching an Instrument Fund that will collect funds for musicians.
“This Winter Festival presents young and established artists who we call ‘our talents,’” Lill explains. “With the new campaign we hope to invite people and companies to support the Instrument Fund because most of Estonia’s top soloists need better instruments to compete at an international level. Sadly their own salaries and fees are far too small to enable investment in addition to feeding their families.” Lill also notes that one of the obstacles for an aspiring musician starting his or her career is access to instruments of good quality.

The festival provides the chance to measure the meaning of music as an organism, more meaningful and powerful than a simple product  bought in the store. Sometimes we barely acknowledge that talent needs to be educated and provided with all the necessary materials, both mental and physical.

Unfortunately, physical materials, such as instruments, are prohibitively expensive for a large portion of musicians. The festival highlights that music needs to be accessible for everyone who wants to play successfully. Perhaps for the first time visitors are able to provide a helping hand to those who want to develop and popularize Estonia’s name both locally and internationally. Meanwhile, the concert allows visitors to see where their money is being invested. The pleasant is united with the valuable, and both sides are winners.

It is still necessary to point out the musical program that the festival offers. With top soloists and future stars in one place, the festival ensures a fantastic demonstration of experience combined with youthful exuberance, all the while maintaining dedication to music and the story within. Maybe inscribed within the notes is a simple desire to move beyond the frames of the visitors.

Thanks to the visitors themselves, music really is something special.

Ticket price 3.50 - 8 euros;
Tickets can be purchased at www.piletilevi.ee.