Anne Aavik: "Welcome, Ulvi!"

Ulvi Rand: "Good afternoon!"

Aavik: "We just listened to an exceptionally beautiful piece, which serves as the theme for this year's celebration of Veljo Tormis' birthday with a wonderful concert at Kõrveaia. There's always so much happening in the Kuusalu region in August that it's hard to attend everything. Let’s start by talking about the concert on August 4 at Kõrveaia. What can we expect this year at Veljo Tormis' home?"

Rand: "The Cultural Society and the Nurja family are inviting everyone to Kõrveaia. This will be the eighth concert, titled Tormis 94: Where I Feel at Home. The main highlight this year is a concert featuring that beautiful, timeless songs by Veljo that everyone probably recognizes. Performing will be mezzo-soprano Iris Oja, accompanied by the kannel, played by Anna-Liisa Eller. We’ll also hear songs from the Forgotten Peoples cycle, as the Finno-Ugric heritage is very dear to Iris Oja. Though these songs were originally written for choir, why not perform them as solo pieces this time!

Additionally, we’ve already launched the Tormis 95 Singing Competition initiative. You can find the competition information and a downloadable poster (A3 format) on the frontpage of Veljotormis.com. We are looking for recordings of songs by Veljo Tormis. Groups of friends, ensembles, and choirs—everyone who performs Tormis’ music in the coming year and takes it to heart is welcome to participate. You can record the song with any device, even just a phone, upload it to YouTube, and send us the link. The contact information is on the Veljo Tormis Virtual Center website (iti@veljotormis.com & eva@veljotormis.com). The competition runs until May 7, 2025. By then, we’ll have assembled a small jury to select the winners. There will be prizes, but the main highlight is the opportunity to celebrate Veljo Tormis' 95th birthday at Kõrveaia on August 7, 2025. We’re definitely planning something bigger and more spectacular.

It’s also worth noting that this year’s event has a special moment. A few years ago, the Father Himself exhibition, curated by photographer Tõnu Tormis, opened at Kõrveaia. Some pieces from the exhibition were missing so far, but last year Tõnu found or was given back the missing photographs. Now, the ten missing photos have been framed and restored."

Aavik: "So, even if you’ve been to the exhibition before and thought you’ve seen it all, it’s worth visiting again to see those final ten photos.

Let’s talk a bit more about the singing competition. The deadline is in May, so there’s still time to start learning a Veljo Tormis song and recording it. Is this competition aimed mainly at established ensembles and groups, or can people who enjoy making music and singing at home with friends also participate? Can amateur recordings be submitted too?"

Rand: "Absolutely! The goal is to compile a birthday greeting for Veljo Tormis from all these videos. We will definitely create a virtual tribute, as we did for the 90th anniversary of Veljo Tormis when we launched the Virtual Center. The singing competition will go viral worldwide, so we encourage people to send in recordings from anywhere. If you feel inspired to sing Veljo Tormis’ music—whether it’s a well-known piece or a less familiar one, perhaps Hundisõnad from his early work—why not! Such surprises are the most delightful and give us additional energy."

Aavik: "There are certainly songs that are performed often, but maybe some lesser-known works will surface too. If someone wants to participate but doesn’t immediately know which song to choose, where can they find sheet music or get other help?"

Rand: "A lot of sheet music is publicly available. While the Veljo Tormis Virtual Center doesn’t directly offer sheet music, they can be obtained through publishers. If someone can’t find what they’re looking for, they can reach out to us at the Virtual Center, and we’ll help. It’s also important to emphasize that the competition is not just for people living in Estonia; it’s open to anyone worldwide. We know there are fans of Veljo Tormis' music everywhere. I personally know several English people who are great fans of Tormis and know his work extraordinarily well. So, we’re looking forward to submissions from all over the world, and that’s certainly very exciting!"

Aavik: "Do people from outside Estonia often contact the Veljo Tormis Cultural Society to learn more about him or to visit his home?"

Rand: "Yes, they do! Google is very helpful in this regard because when you search for Veljo Tormis, the first result is the Veljo Tormis Virtual Center website. People reach out through the contact information there, either to me or to Iti Teder, and we also have our public relations manager, Eva Karo, whom people can contact as well. We’ve had groups like an Icelandic choir visit Kõrveaia, and we’ve organized small introductory tours for Estonian cultural organizers. Next year, we plan to launch a Tormis tourism route. In the future, people will be able to cycle around by using the Kuusalu bike-sharing system. Several collaborative events are planned. Our team is small, and we do as much as we can. The Veljo Tormis Virtual Center is just one part of the Cultural Society’s work; the other important part is the daily effort to preserve the folk culture of Kuusalu parish. We help organize events and support culture groups. We serve as a home or umbrella organization to ensure that the heritage of Kuusalu parish and its groups remains strong."

Aavik: "Kuusalu certainly has much to be proud of. It’s home to one of Estonia’s oldest brass band traditions, over 150 years old. Additionally, Kuusalu has the oldest male choir in Estonia. How has the male choir managed to stay so vibrant, especially when we often hear that male choirs struggle to find new singers?"

Rand: "What you’ve said is largely true. The Kuusalu male choir was founded in 1867. It’s recognized as the oldest continuously operating male choir in Estonia, and since 1962, it has consistently functioned as a male choir. Before that, there were smaller ensemble formations at various times, but it has always existed under the name of the Kuusalu male choir. A large part of the credit likely goes to the conductor Ene Järvik, who came to Kuusalu as a young student of conducting around 1975 and has remained the choir’s conductor ever since. This male choir is her passion, and Ene has always had a place in the hearts of the men in the choir. She’s commuted from Tallinn all these years to lead the choir in Kuusalu.

When we talk about this year, we had this somewhat crazy project called 157KMK4EVER—a rock-themed initiative! It was inspired by the fact that, in the fall, our male choir had only ten members."

Aavik: "Almost like a small ensemble!"

Rand: "Yes, it was clear we needed to do something bold. The inspiration came from the last Youth Song Festival, which had such a fresh, energetic repertoire. One of our choir members, Urmas Kirtsi, came up with the idea—why not try rock classics? And from there, things started rolling. They pitched the idea to our umbrella organization, the Veljo Tormis Cultural Society, and after getting the conductor’s approval, we took on the project.

We quickly realized there weren’t existing arrangements of rock classics for a male choir. But we had a great collaboration with composer Tauno Aints during the St. Lawrence's Promise project ten years ago, so Tauno took on the task of arranging the songs. The project started gaining momentum. We applied for funding and began recruiting new choir members. Right away, the amazing Uuri Forever band, made up of young men from Kolga School, joined us. They’ve been together for about 17 years, still rehearse regularly, and perform about once a year. We all know them—they’re a fantastic group of young men, and convincing them to join wasn’t hard.

Tauno created the arrangements, the band recorded the proper rhythms, and the male choir began learning the songs. Another challenge was that most of the songs are in English, and many choir members are older, so that was something new. We had joint rehearsals in July, and I’m genuinely surprised at how amazing it’s turning out! It’s worth coming to the concert."

Aavik: "I imagine you’re expecting guests from beyond Kuusalu as well, eager to hear the male choir rock."

Rand: "We’re inviting everyone to two concerts at the Kuusalu churchyard. There are only two unique opportunities to experience this—on August 9 and 10 at 7 PM. Tickets can be purchased on Piletitasku and at the venue an hour before the show. We’ve built a special stage, brought in chairs, and the male choir and Uuri Forever band will be joined by guest soloists: Sissi, Robert Linna, Martin Kuningas. Additionally, our local man Marek Tammets has put together a cohesive production, and there will be texts and interviews led by Mihkel Tikerpalu. It's going to be truly awesome!"

Aavik: "Our conversation will conclude with the Kuusalu male choir. The recording is from 1986, conducted by Ene Järvik, and features a beautiful song by Arne Oit."

The link to the Klassikaraadio "Delta" Interview with Ulvi Rand (in Estonian) is HERE.