XII Tallinn Winter Festival 19th – 23rd of February 2019
Festival Opening Concert
Swedish Michael’s Church (Rüütli 9)
19th February 15.00
Sopranos Pille Lill and Kristina Vähi, Kristina Kriit (violin),
Neeme Ots (trumpet), Mikk Langeproon (accordion),
Tiia Tenno (organ)
Programme: Vivaldi, Händel, Lindberg etc
Free entrance
PILLE LILL
is one of the most well-known opera singers in Estonia today. She has graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT) with two professions – choir conducting and opera singing. She continued her studies in the master’s program of the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Prof. J. Peters) and defended her master’s degree at the Helsinki Sibelius Academy (Prof. L. Linko-Malmio). In 2004-2011 she furthered her skills in the context of doctoral studies at EAMT (Prof. Jaakko Ryhänen) and in 2005-2006 in the lied class of the University of Karlsruhe (professors Mitsuko Shirai and Hartmuth Höll). In addition, she has taken part of several world-famous musicians’ master classes (Elisabeth Söderström, Irwin Gage, Emma Kirkby, Mauriz Sillem, Wilma Vernocchi etc.) P. Lill has performed as an opera, oratorio and chamber singer in many countries. She has sung the lead role in close to 30 operas and she has cooperated with several reputed conductors. She has done many recordings for the Estonian National Broadcasting and her voice is perpetuated on a number of CD-s. P. Lill has been rewarded with the Big Dipper award for Best Female Singer (1996), she has been a laureate for Georg Ots Prize (2002), she has been a grantee of the Wagner Society Scholarship (1998) and a 3rd class honoree of the Order of Bishop Platon (2005). She has also been awarded with the UNICEF Bluebird Award (2009), the Estonian Cultural Endowment Award (2014), 4th class Order of the White Star (2016) and Esther of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Estonia of Estonia. P. Lill was a vocal teacher in EAMT from 1997 to 2013 (assistant professor from 2003) and she has given master classes in many countries (Germany, Russia, Finland, Belarus, Latvia etc.) P. Lill was a board member of Estonian Composers’ Union from 2003-2009, she is a board member of the Estonian Chamber of Culture and the Finno-Estonian Culture Fund. She is also the founder and creative director of the Pille Lill Music Foundation from 2003.
KRISTINA VÄHI
has received accolades as a soloist in operas, operettas and musicals. She graduated from the G. Ots Music School (teacher Mare Jõgeva) and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, receiving both her bachelor’s and master’s degree in opera singing (teacher Riina Airenne, prof. Tamara Novitšenko). K. Vähi additionally studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and taken part in many master classes (Eva Märtson, Gerhard Kahry, Christina Deutekom, Rudolf Piernay, Ingrid Kremling, Judith Beckman, Matti Pelo, Monika Hauswalter). She won 1st Prize at the Klaudia Taev Competition for Young Opera Singers (1996). Between 2006-2013 K. Vähi worked as a soloist at the Estonian National Opera. She has also sung in performances of the Vanemuine Theatre, the EAMT Opera Studio and the Kuressaare Opera Days; she has been invited to perform at festivals and the musicals of Smithbridges Production and Vanemuine Theatre. Since 1997 she has been a soloist of the Operetta Scretta creative union. Her roles include: Adina (Donizetti „L’elisir d’amore“), Baroness (Lortzing „The Poacher“), Ännchen (Weber „The Marksman“), Oscar (Verdi „A Masked Ball“), Mozart roles Zerlina, First Dame and Despina („Don Giovanni“, „Magic Flute“, „Così fan tutte“); from Menotti operas Lucy, Monica and Miss Pinkerton („Telephone“, „Medium“, „The Old Maid and the Thief“); from Rossini operas Fanny and Clorinda („The Bill of Marriage“, „Cinderella“); Nedda (Leoncavallo „Clowns“), Ninetta (Prokofjev „The Love for Three Oranges“), Luise (Aints “Rehepapp”), Adele and Cagliari (Strauss „The Bat“, “Viennese Blood”), Lisa and Stasi (Kálmán „Countess Mariza“, “Silva”), Damon (Händel „Acis and Galatea“), Maria (Leigh „Man of La Mancha“), Soulgirl and Carlotta (Webber “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Phantom of the Opera”) etc. K. Vähi currently works as a freelance opera soloist.
KRISTINA KRIIT
has obtained her master’s degree in Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (Prof. Mari Tampere-Bezrodny, 2004) and furthered her skills with Prof. Igor Bezrodny, Eduard Schmieder, Pavel Vernikov and Hermann Krebbers. In addition, she has studied in Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg (2001-2002, Prof. Hermann Krebbers). K. Kriit has taken part in several international competitions, from which the most important are Heino Eller Competition in Tallinn (special prize, 1996) and Henryk Wieniawski Competition in Poland (Lublin, 1997). K. Kriit is a valued contemporary musician and she has performed as a soloist and a chamber musician in almost every country in Europe. She has twice been a scholar of the reputed Holland Music Sessions. In 2005 K. Kriit was one of the founders of Tallinn String Trio and in 2009 trio “Madrigal” with flute and piano. She is a professor and a PhD student in EAMT (Prof. Mari Tampere-Bezrodny) and a II concert master of the Symphony Orchestra in the Estonian National Opera.
NEEME OTS
began his studies at the age of six under the guidance of his father, dots. Aavo Ots and he has defended a bachelor’s degree at the Helsinki Sibelius Academy (2011). The studies continued at the same place at the masters’ level, where he furthered his skills in the context of an Erasmus program during 2013 in Madrid. N. Ots has taken part of the master courses of several distinguished trumpet pedagogues and he has been awarded with several prizes at competitions in Estonia and abroad. Chamber concerts have brought him together with such reputed interprets as M. Voites, M. Palm, A. Teemets, I. Zahharenkova etc. N. Ots has been a soloist in front of several well-known orchestras, he has been invited to perform as a soloist at several festivals and he has cooperated with such outstanding conductors as J.-P. Saraste, K. Järvi, L. Segerstam, M. Lehtinen etc. He has been a concert master of the trumpet group in several different youth orchestras with which he has performed in Estonia and abroad. In 2015, his first CD “Baroque Pictures” was released in cooperation with the organ player Tiia Tenno.
MIKK LANGEPROON
begun his accordion studies at 8 years old at the Tallinn Music School and graduated with honors from the G. Ots Tallinn Music School (teacher Tiina Välja), where he was rewarded with G. Ots School’s silver badge. At the same time, he graduated from Kadriorg German High School with a golden medal. From the autumn of 2014 he has been furthering his skills at the Helsinki Sibelius Academy (Prof. Matti Rantanen). In years 2017-18 he also participated in student exchange by prof. Janne Rättyä in Austria,Graz. M. Langeproon has repeatedly been awarded at the competition “Best Young Musician”, he is the winner of the older age group of Estonian Young Accordionists’ Competition (2014) and he has obtained 2nd place at the International Vilnius Accordion Competition. He has been chosen as the best instrumentalist of Tallinn Music School (2011) and as the most outstanding student of the accordion department of G. Ots Tallinn Music School three years in a row. In 2013 he was awarded with the Maxima Future Talent title in the music, arts and culture category. A special prize of the Round Table Competition in 2014 and a successful performance in the TV contest “Classic Stars 2016” are also worth mentioning. M. Langeproon is active as a soloist as well as a chamber musician and he has performed in several reputed concert halls in Estonia and abroad, in Classic Radio’s live broadcasting and on Estonian Television.
TIIA TENNO
graduated from Tartu Heino Eller Music School (teacher A. Antson) studying piano and Estonian Academy of Music and Theater (prof. H. Lepnurm, I. Maidre, A. Uibo) as well as from Herford School of Church Music studying organ (Germany). In addition, she has furthered her skills in Hamburg School of Music (prof. Wolfgang Zerer) and she has taken part of many distinguished organists’ master classes (B. Haas, W. Zerer, J. Laukvik, A. Marconi, P. van Dijk, E. Kooimann). From 1996 T. Tenno is working in Tallinn St. John’s Church as an organist and a choir leader and she is one of the founders of The Organ Fund of St. John’s Church and a board member there. She has also worked as an organist-choir leader in Schnathorst Church in Germany and Lunde Chruch in Norway and she has been the department leader of the church music department of the Estonian Institute of Theology (2004-2007). T. Tenno has cooperated with multiple outstanding interprets (Pille Lill, Oksana Sinkova, Neeme Ots, Toomas Vavilov, Arete Teemets etc.) and she has given many solo concerts in Germany, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Estonia. She has given multiple performances at Tallinn International Organ Festival, Tallinn Chamber Music Festival, Rapla Church Music Festival etc. As a soloist, T. Tenno has cooperated with the Finnish-Estonian Baroque Orchestra and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. A lot of the music that is played by her is on the recordings of Estonian Public Broadcasting and many other collection CD-s (“Estonian Valuable Organs” – Tallinn St. John’s church organ (publisher ERES, 2000); “Baroque Pictures” with trumpetist Neeme Ots (publisher Tanel Klesment, 2015). T. Tenno is a member of the Estonian Organ Society from 1999 and a member of the Association of Estonian Professional Musicians from 2014.
