From 27 July to 5 August Tallinn will host the international music festival Europa Cantat 2018 whose this year’s motto is ‘A Million Ways to Sing’. The festival will draw thousands of singing fans and choral music experts from all over the world.
The programme includes concerts and appearances by the world-famous group The Swingles (UK) and by Vocal Lines (Denmark), the acclaimed choreographer Panda van Proosdij (The Netherlands), Lyn Williams, Australia’s leading director of choirs for young people, and the renowned choral composer Bob Chilcott (UK), former singer of The King’s Singers. One of the festival’s undoubted highlights is the “Happy Birthday, Estonia!” concert (celebrating the 100th birthday of the Republic of Estonia) on 3 August which is held at the spectacular Song Celebration Ground, the home of Estonia’s Song Celebrations and of the Signing Revolution.
“For Estonia, a music celebration of this magnitude happens only once in a hundred years. There is intense competition to host the event and its impressive size means a huge responsibility for the organizers, but we were thrilled to take on the challenge,” said Kaie Tanner, the General Manager of the festival team. “Europa Cantat is not your traditional choral event. It is not just solemn singers dressed in black but also singers who rap, meditate and beatbox, who sing and dance musicals hits, and perform major classical compositions in between.”
The festival features workshops of leading conductors from across the world, a conductors and composers programme, seminars, workshops, round tables, a training course for young event managers, and showcases and concerts. There are daily Open Singing events: the public sing-along under the baton of Merja Rajala (Finland) at the Town Hall Square, the hub of Tallinn’s fairytale-like Old Town, and the Open Singing for festival participants with Lorenzo Donati (Italy) at the Russian Culture Centre.
The „Happy Birthday, Estonia!“ concert at Tallinn’s Song Celebration Ground features music from Estonia and from other countries. The Artistic Director of the concert is Hirvo Surva, a prominent Estonian conductor and Artistic Director of the last National Song Celebration.
“We were really surprised at how well known Estonia´s singing revolution is in the world, said Tanner. “We have received so much positive feedback from singers in other countries, whose dream of singing on the massive stage at Estonia’s Song Celebration Ground is now coming true.”
There are a hundred concerts in the festival programme to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Republic of Estonia. Free afternoon concerts are given in churches and concert venues across Estonia. Evening concerts at Tallinn’s main concert halls present guest choirs and ensembles as well as Estonia’s Grammy-award winning heavyweights, the Estonian National Male Choir and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.
The full programme will be published and tickets will go on sale in May.
Registration for the festival is open until the end of April. More than 3,400 singers from 50 countries have registered for the festival at this point.
The international music festival Europa Cantat was initiated by the European Choral Association. It takes place every three years and it is one of the most important events in the choral world. The first festival was held in Passau, Germany, in 1961, and the previous one was in Pécs, Hungary.
Europa Cantat 2018 kicks off with the Opening Ceremony featuring The Swingles (UK) at Liberty Square in Tallinn’s centre on 28 July.
For further information please contact
Kaie Tanner
Europa Cantat 2018 General Manager
+3725144301
kaie.tanner@kooriyhing.ee
Kirke Ert
Europa Cantat 2018 Press Spokesperson
+3725018080
press@ectallinn2018.ee
the registrations for packages (full/half/anniversary) and the online registration system for EUROPA CANTAT XX Tallinn 2018 will close on April 30th 2018. All later changes must be communicated by mail to 
