SAVIJALAKESED
Savijalakesed is the folk dance ensemble of Tallinna Tehnikakõrgkool -TTK University of Applied Sciences. They enjoy dancing and making others happy with their dance.
The troupe was founded in 1967. Piret Lett has been the director since 1982 and her assistants are Kaja Naarits, Kristiina Vilipõld and Mait Pinsel.
The ensemble has gained awards at different competitions. The latest and probably one of the most valuable award so far came just 2018 when Estonian Folk Dance and Folk Music Association (ERRS) nominated the most outstanding players in the field. Savijalakesed gained award of the year in executive as well as creative category and was entitled „Collective of the year 2018”.
The ensemble has danced in Estonian villages and towns, as well as in international festivals and events in Finland, Russian Federation, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, United Kingdom, USA, Makedonia, France, Spain and Italy. Savijalakesed visited Portland for the first time in 1997 when participating in the Portland Rose Festival. This year, 20 members of the dance ensemble will participate in the 34th West Coast Estonian Days.
PRAOST MART SALUMÄE
The Dean Mart Salumäe was born in Tallinn, Estonia on March 3, 1963 and raised within the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC) of Kuusalu in a large, religious family. Within three generations, this family produced 6 clergymen and 5 church musicians. Mart Salumäe began his studies at the EELC Institute of Religious Studies in 1981. In 1985, he served the EELC mission districts of Püha, Mustjala, and Muhu congregations in the Saarte region. In 1991, he served the EELC Viljandi Pauluse congregation. He also served as a director of the EELC Deacon Center, a clergyman of the Helsinki Estonian congregation, a chaplain of a hospital, and member of the city council of Viljandi. As of 2011, Mart Salumäe began serving the EELC Saint Peter’s congregation in Toronto, and in 2017, he became the Dean of the EELC North American synod.
UNISTUS
Many voices… One dream.
Unistus Chamber Choir was founded in 1999 by Lonnie Cline, Conductor and Artistic Director. The choir is a select choral ensemble of musicians bound together by their commitment to promoting peace, love and harmony through the performance of various styles of music.
Cline heard Estonian choral music for the first time in the early 1990’s, and instantly fell in love with it. He was then the first full-time choral director at Oregon’s Clackamas Community College. In 1999 he founded the now internationally recognized Unistus Chamber Choir. And ever since, Lonnie Cline has been forging lasting ties between Oregon and Estonia, instilling thousands of singers with the beauty and joy of Estonian choral music, and spreading Estonia’s Singing Revolution story to ever broader audiences.
Over the years, Unistus has performed at three Song Festivals in Tallinn, the 2000 ESTO in Toronto, 11 West Coast Estonian Days festivals, 22 Estonian Independence Day celebrations in Portland, and participated in cultural exchange tours. It is an honor and privilege for Unistus Chamber Choir to be included in Laulupidu 2019 in Tallinn and in LEP 2019 in Portland.
“KULD LÕVI”
We have an exciting evenings prepared for you in our “Kuld Lõvi” club! A dance band from Estonia, sing-along folk songs, Savijalakesed folk dance troupe will teach us simple folk dances and social dances, “Lärm” band from Los Angeles, and a DJ will continue the evenings with popular Estonian dance music!
For more information about the Festival: www.lep2019.com
