The Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year, opened the newest concert and performance centre in Estonia today; it features a concert hall accommodating 482 people, a black box theatre with 130 seats for actors and jazz musicians, and 21 new classrooms. The state-of-the-art building which cost approximately 12 million euros took one and a half years to construct. 

Tonight, President Kersti Kaljulaid and Professor Ivari Ilja, rector of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT), cut the ribbon on the stage of the newly erected concert hall and declared the new building open. The solemn ceremony was followed by the opening concert, featuring, among other pieces, the performance of Tõnu Kõrvits’s latest work “Ta kõneleb vaikselt” for the first time ever, followed by the programme “Kummardus alustajatele” prepared by the Department of Drama especially for the opening event. 

At the opening of the new building today, President Kersti Kaljulaid said that the self-identification of Estonian people has always incorporated a desire to build bridges between freedom and creative self-expression. “Today, too, music and theatre mean much more for our nation than merely fine arts. This is illustrated by the abundance of concerts, festivals and premiering plays as well as the astonishing demand for theatre and concert tickets. This is a natural part of our mentality and nervous system, which is largely based on the foundation this academy has traditionally been building and will keep building,” President Kaljulaid said, adding that all of the above also arouses high expectations for the academy here in Estonia and internationally. “In order for us to remain free and open to the world so that it can still be our invaluable art that the world knows Estonia by.”

Professor Ivari Ilja, rector of the EAMT, says the new concert and performance centre is the best possible birthday present the academy could have received for its 100^th anniversary. “Now our students will be able to have a taste of their future lives as creators and practice on big stages here already during their studies,” Professor Ilja noted. “The concert and performance centre will undoubtedly raise the standard of music and theatre education in Estonia and boost the competitive ability of our graduates internationally. Wider music and theatre audience will also certainly find a number of reasons to come to the new building as the schedule of public concerts and performances to be held in the newly completed halls is already rather tight. In addition to the academy’s students, these stages will see famous musicians, directors and actors from Estonia and beyond.”

At the heart of the 6,000 square metre concert and performance facility, there is a concert hall through four floors with 482 seats, which will be ideal for classical performances as well as other styles of music. The audience can enter the concert hall with two galleries through the main building of the academy and also from Sakala and Tatari streets, so it can be flexibly used for studies and as a public event venue. There is no other concert hall in Tallinn at the moment that would accommodate almost half a thousand people, so the new building is filling this niche.

The black box with 130 seats was constructed through three floors and will be used by drama students and jazz musicians. The five-storey building with a basement floor also houses 21 classrooms, including a multimedia centre and a jazz classroom. There is access to the main building of the academy from all the floors of the concert and performance centre. 

The EAMT’s concert and performance centre was designed by AS Resand. The architects were Toivo Tammik and Mart Rõuk from the architectural firm Ansambel and Kalvi Voolaid. The author of the interior architectural solution of the halls is Aivar Oja from FraDisain OÜ, and the acoustic design was created by Linda Madalik in collaboration with the Danish acoustics agency Gade&Mortensen Akustik. The general contractor for the construction was Nordlin Ehitus AS, and the site supervision on the part of the owner was performed by Tallinna Linnaehituse AS. 

The construction of the new concert and performance centre was financed by the European Regional Development Fund, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

The concert and performance centre of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in fact and figures 

General:

– net floor area of approximately 6,000 m²

– five floors plus the basement floor

– 21 classrooms

– large concert hall

– black box

– offices and utility rooms

– multimedia centre

Main concert hall:

– number of seats 482

– stage area 180 m²

– orchestra pit 48 m²

– stalls 270 m²

– reverberation (T60) 1–2.2 seconds

– reverberation with the curtains 1.5 seconds

Black box:

– number of seats up to 130

– area 180 m²

• The principal design element in the light-coloured interior solution of the hall is the wave motif. Wavy wall panels run horizontally, and this is how sound moves. Interior architect Aivar Oja says that the wave image can be interpreted as a sound wave, sea wave or sand dune. 

• What was avoided in the design of the hall is the use of numerous spotlights; instead, lighting is provided with colour-changing LED lights installed in the walls. 

• The author of the acoustic design of the building is the country’s most prominent acoustics specialist Linda Madalik, whose primary task was to ensure that the concert hall provides excellent sound. She supervised the creation of a unique acoustic cloud over the stage for performers to able to hear one another better on stage. The designers of the concert hall spared no effort to make sure that the wavy panels on the walls fully met strict acoustic requirements. After lengthy analyses and testing, the panels were manufactured from Komi birch, which grows in tundra and is known for high wood density, by Supra Mööbel OÜ from Sõmeru. 

• A special decorative feature of the EAMT’s new building is the stained-glass panel “The First Language”, which spans through several floors. It was created by glass artist Maret Sarapu, who says music can be acquired like one’s mother tongue, picked up in the process of communication from speakers of varying skills with varying vocabulary. 

• In addition, there is an area for art displays in the lobby of the new concert and performance centre. The first exposition to be exhibited there is Enno Hallek’s “Da capo al fine”, curated by Harry Liivrand. 

• Many of the concerts and plays in the new concert and performance centre will be free for audience. Information about upcoming events is available at www.emtasaalid.ee

The Estonian Research Council invites students to submit research papers to the national contest.

Deadline for submitting the applications is 16 September 2019. Submission of research papers should be done through the contest website https://konkursid.etag.ee/.

The aim of the national contest for university students is to promote research among university students, to acknowledge students who have achieved outstanding results with their thesis, study, research or scientific publication.

The contest is open for all students studying in Estonia (including foreign students studying in Estonia) and Estonian citizens studying abroad. Research papers can be submitted on all university levels: applied higher education and bachelor studies; master studies; doctoral studies and in all fields of research.

In addition to national awards, special prizes are issued.
In total 77 277,79 EUR will be awarded.

The national prizes are given as follows:

• Research papers of applied higher education and undergraduate students (I prize 960 EUR, II prize 650 EUR, III prize 320 EUR);
• Master level students research papers (I prize 1600 EUR, II prize 1300 EUR, III prize 700 EUR);
• Doctorate level students research papers (I prize 1600 EUR, II prize 1300 EUR, III prize 700 EUR);
• two major prizes at the level and level of 3600 EUR;

Special prizes will be awarded 15 297,79 EUR in total.

The Estonian Research Council is organizing the contest for student research in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Research 28th time this year.

Contest homepage.

The conditions of the contest can be found here.

Additional information:
Sirli Taniloo
Contest Coordinator
phone: +372 526 0562
sirli.taniloo@etag.ee

The official admission period for Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral studies at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre concluded on July 1st. EAMT received 375 applications out of which 228 student candidates were admitted.

In Bachelor’s studies, 167 applications were submitted, 48 of which for the curricula in English. EAMT admitted 103, 80 for the Estonian and 23 for English curricula.

In Master’s studies, EAMT received 182 applications, 99 of which for the curricula in English. EAMT admitted 117 candidates, 65 for the Estonian and 52 for the English curricula.

In doctoral studies, 26 applications were received, 13 of them by foreign candidates. EAMT accepted 8.

Margus Pärtlas, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and Research explained: „The most popular fields of study were classical singing, composition, electronic music, sound engineering, string instruments, dramatic art and pedagogy. The interest of the foreign students towards EAMT continues to be high, especially on the Master’s level. On the other hand, we are proud to note that the number of Estonian admitted candidates on the Bachelor’s level was higher than in 2018.“

Admission to the new international Master's programme called Conteporary Physical Performance Making was successful gaining 36 applicants. The first Master's course of it's kind in the performative arts field, CPPM takes postgraduate education out of the classroom and puts practical experience with world-leading makers of performance at the heart of the learning process. The students work alongside some of the most exciting directors, choreographers, performance artists and performers to further one's own creative practice through active collaboration, devising and performance.

As for the the new foreign students, the geographic variety of the sending countries is wide, ranging from Asian countries such as China, South Korea and Japan to the new world (Australia, USA, Costa Rica, Mexico) and Europe: Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania,  Austria, Croatia, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus and Russia.

A new concert series „Crossing Cultures“, focusing on the foreign students of EAMT, was kicked off last Sunday. Each concert in the series will be devoted to one country and its students studying at EAMT, who will perform alongside the Estonian students.

„Our foreign students come from many different countries and the main idea of the new series is to dedicate each concert to one of those countries. Enabling the foreign students to perform together with their Estonian colleagues, we enable an exchange not only in a form of musical collaboration, but in terms of a cultural exchange in a wider sense. Namely, each concert will include also an oral introduction to the culture of the country in the spotlight“, explains Henry-David Varema, Vice-Rector for Artistic Affairs and International Relations. For instance, in the first concert that was dedicated to South-Korea and featured performances by South-Korean and Estonian students, and alumni of EAMT, the overview on the country’s culture was given by Jason Mario Dydynski, doctoral student of semiotics and cultural theories of University of Tartu.

The countries featured during the next season are Finland, Latvia, Spain and China. „It’s quite common not to know too much about the cultural heritage and background of our foreign colleagues. Thus, the new concert series will hopefully not only help to bring closer the students, academic staff and audience of EAMT, but perhaps also helps to disprove different and unfortunately still widespread myths regarding the foreign students,“ Varema adds.