Veljo Tormis' choral cycle "Forgotten Peoples" will be performed by Chœur de l’Orchestre de Paris in Tartu. Tormis’ cycle includes three parts in the repertoire: “Izhorian Epic”, “Votic Wedding Songs” and “Ingrian Evenings”. Ingrid Mänd will conduct the choir who will sing in Vadja and Isuri languages and in the Ingrian Finnish dialect.

The premiere of the composition took place on 14 March, 2023, at the Paris Philharmonic. “Forgotten Peoples” is the masterpiece of Veljo Tormis’s choral composition – a musical portrait of six Finno-Ugric tribes along the Baltic Sea. The six-part choral cycle completed between 1970 and 1989 takes on a new meaning in the French performance.

Alyona Movko-Mägi created the video and lighting design for the concert which conveys Finno-Ugric culture and traditions. The choral works are thus interwoven with high quality visuals encapsulating the living conditions of the Finno-Ugrian indigenous people, based on materials selected from the Estonian film archive and Lennart Meri’s films.

The concert “Forgotten Peoples” is part of the Tartu 2024 Finno-Ugric Days programme, which will be held on 14-15 June at the Estonian National Museum.

“Forgotten Peoples” V. Tormis / Chœur de l’Orchestre de Paris (conductor Ingrid Mänd) is part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 main programme.