Björk Guðmundsdóttir interviews Arvo Pärt

Icelandic artist Björk Guðmundsdóttir (also known simply as Björk) interviewed Arvo Pärt for a 1997 BBC documentary about musical minimalists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BVACGWgN4U

“In art, all things are possible, but not all things are necessary” –Arvo Pärt

 

I can’t help but think about St. Paul’s encouragement to the Corinthians when it comes to why Pärt’s music is the way it is: “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.” (I Cor. 10.13).

It’s also worth noting that Björk has worked extensively on a number of recordings and projects with Arvo’s son, Michael Pärt, who is also a musician. A film composer and producer, he has worked on both independent and blockbuster films. He and his wife (also from Iceland) live in Estonia, where he is chairman of the board of the Arvo Pärt Centre.

 

Mark Powell
Executive Director, Cappella Romana
Producer, Arvo Pärt Festival

The Arvo Pärt Festival

The first-ever festival in North America dedicated to the music of Estonian Orthodox composer Arvo Pärt will take place February 5 – 12, 2017 in Portland, Oregon, presented by the Northwest’s leading professional chamber choir, Cappella Romana. Arvo Pärt is the most performed living composer in the world. Full information.

The Arvo Pärt Festival features eight (8) live performances of music by Arvo Pärt with chamber music (including Spiegel im Spiegel), the complete organ works, a cappella choral works (including selections of the Kanon Pokajanen), a late-night performance of the Passio by candlelight, the Missa Syllabica sung in a Latin mass, and a festival finale featuring Pärt’s Te Deum for three choirs, strings, and prepared piano, Da Pacem Domine (commissioned by Jordi Savall in memory of the victims of the Madrid terrorist bombings in 2004), and the US premiere of Alleluia-Tropus celebrating St. Nicholas.

The live events of the festival will be preceded with a screening of the new film “Arvo Pärt: Even if I lose everything” at Whitsell Auditorium, NW Film Center.

The Arvo Pärt Festival also features two free public lectures, including “The Words Write My Music,” by Peter Bouteneff, professor of theology at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York and author of the new book Arvo Pärt: Out of Silence.

Lead Sponsor: Ronni Lacroute.

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