Orient, the Festival of Eastern Music
Encyclopedia
Orient
is an annual music festival held in the Baltic countries concentrating on Asian music, the main focus being on folk, sacred, and traditional classical music. The festival has featured Oriental musicians such as Indian flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, sitarists Pandit Ravi Shankar
and Anoushka Shankar, the Japanese giant drum ensemble "Kodô", the Tuvinian guttural singers "Huun-Huur-Tu", Tibetan Buddhists monks of Gyuto
and Gyume monasteries, the Turkish percussionist Burhan Öçal, the Armenian dudukist Jivan Gasparyan, and the Azeri muqam singer Alim Qasimov.
as artistic director. Until 2001 the festival was arranged in co-operation with Estonian National Concert Institute (Eesti Kontsert) after which it was taken over by Estonian Record Productions
(ERP), who is the owner of the festival's trademark. The festival has grown into a cultural event in the Baltic region with concerts taking place in Latvia, Finland, Sweden and St. Petersburg in addition to the original location of Estonia.
Most of the Orient Festival concerts are recorded, often in cooperation with the Estonian Broadcasting Corporation. A CD The Path to the Heart of Asia with music performed by artists from Taiwan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Tuva, Siberia and Turkey has been released.
In addition to the concerts, there have been dance performances, master classes, a tea ceremony, film screenings, art, ikebana and photo exhibitions, lectures on Buddhism and Islam and religious rituals under the umbrella of the festival.
Orient
The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...
is an annual music festival held in the Baltic countries concentrating on Asian music, the main focus being on folk, sacred, and traditional classical music. The festival has featured Oriental musicians such as Indian flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, sitarists Pandit Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...
and Anoushka Shankar, the Japanese giant drum ensemble "Kodô", the Tuvinian guttural singers "Huun-Huur-Tu", Tibetan Buddhists monks of Gyuto
Gyuto Order
Gyuto Tantric University is one of the great monastic institutions of the Gelug Order.-History:Gyuto was founded in 1475 by Jetsun Kunga Dhondup and is one of the main tantric colleges of the Gelug tradition...
and Gyume monasteries, the Turkish percussionist Burhan Öçal, the Armenian dudukist Jivan Gasparyan, and the Azeri muqam singer Alim Qasimov.
History
The festival was founded in 1992 with composer Peeter VähiPeeter Vähi
Peeter Vähi, sometime also Peter Vähi or Peeter Vahi, is a classical Estonian composer.Vähi's work Relaxatio, written in 1992 and inspired by Asian intonal elements of Tibetan canticles, is considered a noted electronic work of psychotherapeutic music.- Discography :* A CHANT OF BAMBOO, Works: A...
as artistic director. Until 2001 the festival was arranged in co-operation with Estonian National Concert Institute (Eesti Kontsert) after which it was taken over by Estonian Record Productions
Estonian Record Productions
Estonian Record Productions is an Estonian music production company, founded on March 1, 2001. The main activity was initially record production, and the company has now branched out to produce music festivals and concerts, act as artist management, publish music, and offers notation and...
(ERP), who is the owner of the festival's trademark. The festival has grown into a cultural event in the Baltic region with concerts taking place in Latvia, Finland, Sweden and St. Petersburg in addition to the original location of Estonia.
Most of the Orient Festival concerts are recorded, often in cooperation with the Estonian Broadcasting Corporation. A CD The Path to the Heart of Asia with music performed by artists from Taiwan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Tuva, Siberia and Turkey has been released.
In addition to the concerts, there have been dance performances, master classes, a tea ceremony, film screenings, art, ikebana and photo exhibitions, lectures on Buddhism and Islam and religious rituals under the umbrella of the festival.