The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir performed at Ryoji Ikeda’s composer’s evening at the Philharmonie de Paris

On 7 December, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste, appeared at the Philharmonie de Paris as part of “Macrocosmos”, a composer’s evening dedicated to the acclaimed Japanese artist and composer Ryoji Ikeda. The programme featured Ikeda’s Music for Choir, which premiered a year ago in the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 programme.

According to the choir’s manager, Esper Linnamägi, the collaboration with Ikeda has been exceptional. They first met two years ago, when the composer approached the choir with the idea of creating a new work together.

“As a result, a new choral work was completed, premiered at the Estonian National Museum as part of the Tartu 2024 programme, and has now reached one of Europe’s most prestigious stages, the Philharmonie de Paris, where it was very well received. The international interest in the composer and the work provides an opportunity to showcase Estonian choral culture in the context of audiovisual music,” Linnamägi said.

Ryoji Ikeda noted that he has been a great admirer of the choir since the beginning of his artistic career, and collaborating with them had long been his dream. For Ikeda, whose career has focused mainly on electronic music, Music for Choir, written for the chamber choir and Tõnu Kaljuste, is his first work created solely for the human voice. In the nine-movement composition, the solo parts were performed by sopranos Yena Choi, Marie Roos and Mirell Jakobson, and altos Annely Leinberg and Kristel Marand.

Next year, the work will be performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tõnu Kaljuste at London’s Barbican Centre.

The series of Ryoji Ikeda’s composer concerts held at the Philharmonie de Paris from 5–7 December also featured Percussions de Strasbourg, Alexandre Babel, Amélie Grould, Stéphane Garin, Ensemble Modern, percussion students of the Conservatoires National Supérieurs de Musique et de Danse of Paris and Lyon (CNSMD), Shin-Young Lee, musicians of ONCEIM, and Frédéric Blondy.

Photos: Philharmonie de Paris.