International Research Conference
October 17–18, 2025 at the Arvo Pärt Centre
On October 17–18, 2025, the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa will host the international research conference Arvo Pärt: Ideascapes. With its intentionally broad thematic scope, we invite scholars from various disciplines to explore and share ideas related to the musical and intellectual legacy of the Estonian composer, who celebrates his 90th birthday this year.
Arvo Pärt’s unique compositional style and music—bridging generations, cultural experiences, and social strata around the globe—provides fertile ground for diverse academic interpretations. Artistic creation and (auto)communication, the creative process as translation, modernism, and cultural memory are just some of the “ideascapes” reflected in Pärt’s work that continue to attract the attention not only of musicologists, creativity psychologists, and cultural historians, but increasingly also of philosophers, theologians, and cultural semioticians.
Keynote speakers for the two-day event include Christoph Wolff, one of the most renowned scholars on Bach and Mozart and Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, as well as Eero Tarasti, Professor at the University of Helsinki, a distinguished musicologist and founder of existential semiotics. Scholars from Estonia, Finland, Austria, Germany, France, and the United States will present at the conference.
The upcoming event marks the second interdisciplinary scholarly gathering in Laulasmaa dedicated to Arvo Pärt’s oeuvre, jointly organized by the Arvo Pärt Centre and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. The first took place in October 2021.
At the end of the first conference day there will be a chamber music concert with Robert Traksmann (violin), Marcel Johannes Kits (cello) and Sten Heinoja (piano).
The conference will be held in English and is open to all interested participants. The participation fee includes coffee breaks and lunches as well.
The conference is organized by the Arvo Pärt Centre and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. Organizing Committee: Toomas Siitan, Anna Gustafson, Kristina Kõrver, Kai Kutman, Maarja Tyler, Anu Kivilo, Nele Kivisild.
The conference is supported by the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne and Anna Gustafson.
Late registration (after September 11, 2025):
Two-day attendance – €60
One-day attendance – €40
NB! LaSpa offers special room rates during 15.10-20.10.2025. To book discounted rooms, please visit www.laspa.ee and use the promotional code that will be sent to all registered guests.
At the end of the first conference day there will be a chamber music concert with Robert Traksmann (violin), Marcel Johannes Kits (cello) and Sten Heinoja (piano). Tickets will be available from Fienta from June.
** A free shuttle bus will take guests to the conference, leaving from Tallinn city centre in the morning and returning from the Arvo Pärt Centre car park after the evening concert.
October 17
8:45 a.m. – departure from the Mere Kultuurikesus (Mere pst 5)
9:00 a.m. – stop at Haabersti Circle K parking lot (Paldiski mnt 106)
7:45 p.m. – Arvo Pärt Centre parking lot – Tallinn Mere Kultuurikeskus
October 18
8:45 a.m. – departure from the Mere Kultuurikesus (Mere pst 5)
9:00 a.m. – stop at Haabersti Circle K parking lot (Paldiski mnt 106)
6:15 p.m. – Arvo Pärt Centre parking lot – Mere Kultuurikeskus
Arvo Pärt Centre • Kellasalu tee 3, 76702 Laulasmaa, Harjumaa, Estonia
