Back to live music with Estonian Music Week’s 2021 festival

ESTONIAN MUSIC WEEK

Estonia truly continues to grow its global connections as the years go by, especially with the help of music. It’s something that we can all appreciate. And with the 2021 edition of Estonian Music Week, music was a conduit for sharing culture and knowledge between Canada and Estonia.

The memorable moments of this festival were abundant, from the screening of Unustatud rahvaste jälgedes (In the Steps of Forgotten Peoples) to the last note of Beatrice Deer Band at the El Mocambo.

For VEMU (the Museum of Estonians Abroad), the organizer of the festival, the main focus of the autumn season has been on the Finno-Ugric peoples and the Indigenous peoples of Canada. EMW and its educational programming also followed this topic.

In a dynamic range of formats, the festival reiterated what it means to be Estonian in a contemporary context, how our culture is expressed through the diaspora, as well as what being Estonian has meant to people in the past.

To commence the festival, on October 17th, VEMU and Estonian Music Week virtually presented Collegium Musicale’s documentary film Unustatud rahvaste jälgedes, which perceptively portrayed the choral compositions of Veljo Tormis and the challenges faced by Finno-Ugric peoples today in maintaining a connection to their cultures.

A particularly striking moment came early on, when in Estonian National Museum educator Anti Lillak’s tour of the museum’s exhibition “Echo of the Urals,” we heard the similarities between the word for “eye” across Uralic languages. The Uralic language group – which encompasses 25 million speakers of Uralic languages – consists of Samoyedic and Finno-Ugric languages, for which Estonian is part of the Finno-Ugric linguistic branch. The exhibition illustrated further similarities between these cultures by showing homes and possessions from Siberia to the Baltic Sea.

Friday night (the 22nd, sponsored by Northern Birch Credit Union) conveyed the Estonian experience through the lens of R&B music. Toronto’s Paradise Theatre was filled with stalwart rhythm sections, trouble-melting chord progressions, and the powerful, radiant singing voices of Kaili Kinnon and Estyr; while Philly Joe’s Jazz Club in Tallinn hosted and filmed Rita Ray’s stellar performance. It was remarkable to hear each of them belt it out, climbing to the top of their registers, and to see the bands pour everything they have into their solos; hammering keyboards like bongos and springing on and off fretboards furiously.

Noon on Saturday October 23rd brought in the festival’s first-ever kids’ event, replete with boogie-worthy drum beats from drummer Stefan Loebus, vocal sound effects, and colourful gouache and watercolour illustrations by Laani Heinar, in her and Vincent Teetsov’s picture book Pumpkin and Stretch. Children and families traversed a mysterious cave and went around the world through musical styles like bossa nova, swing, reggae, and folk. This may well have also been the first time an audience in Tartu College listened to a song about all of the ways you can cook eggs!

The final night of the festival, titled “Persevering Languages”, at the El Mocambo (sponsored by festival partner, the Estonian Foundation of Canada), highlighted the mutual appreciation of Indigenous cultures and the cultures of Finno-Ugric peoples. Estonian kannel (zither) masters Duo Ruut, DJ Erik Laar, the vocal ensemble Väike Hellero, and the headliner of the night, Beatrice Deer Band, pulled communities closer together with rhythm, poetry, and melody. Once again, the performers in Estonia were hosted and filmed by Philly Joe’s Jazz Club. All of the artists emphasized the continuing power of identity as it extends between the past and the future.

One of the most memorable parts of this night was Beatrice Deer’s demonstration of the techniques of Inuit throat singing, which is part of her musical compositions. With her kindness and expertise, she successfully helped a member of the audience brought on-stage to perform throat singing with her.

Throughout these perfor­mances, artists based in Estonia were live-streamed to viewers in Toronto, and all artists were viewable by audiences watching from home. The hybrid festival format, which was very fitting to use considering Estonia’s reputation as a digital society, has significantly expanded the ways Estonian and Canadian musicians can connect. As Estonian Music Week says in their mission statement, their goal is to “showcase the high caliber and creative diversity of Estonian and Estonian-Canadian artists” and to “create a space for collaboration between Estonian and Canadian artists.”

If you didn’t get the chance to see these moments in-person or online at the time they happened, be sure to watch the event recordings on Estonian Music Week’s YouTube channel and sign up to the festival’s newsletter (www.estonianmusicweek.ca) to keep in touch!

Photo: Vincent Teetsov