During this past tour, Trio Estonia+1 brought Estonian classical music to the concert stage in Bridgetown (the capital city of Barbados), did performances in Speightstown at St. Peter's Anglican Church , presented masterclasses to Barbadian music students at the Barbados Community College, and did a major workshop for the players in the Barbadian National Symphony Youth Orchestra.
What was very interesting from the Trio's point of view is that there was no distinction between people listening to classical music, as opposed to jazz or rock. It was all music to be enjoyed. Having said this, there seems to be a desire for more classical music performers to come to Barbados.
The musical highlight for Trio Estonia +1 was the concert at Collymore Hall in Bridgetown. This modern concert facility is amongst one of the finest concert venues to be found and features a beautiful 9 foot Steinway piano. For the first half of the concert, Trio Estonia+1 performed traditional Bach, Beethoven, and Handel. However, the second half of the concert was a mixture of Astor Piazzolla (for some “hot” Southern musical flavor) combined with the music of Kapp, Saar, Pärt, and Raid. The songs “Metsateel” and “Kalamehe Môrsja” were, at least from the stage, audience favourites.
The post-concert reception was attended by local and foreign dignitaries, including the Vice-President of Barbados, the Ambassador to Germany, and the Consuls-General of India and the Netherlands.
From a strictly unofficial point of view, the ties that were created by this tour were very important. Hopefully the future will bring more creative ways to further strong artistic, economic, and diplomatic connections between Estonia and Barbados.
Viva la musica….elagu muusika!!!
