“The two week­ long music festival run by Paavo Järvi in the idyllic seaside town of Pärnu is a symbol of its country’s highest cultural ties with the best of the rest of Europe.” (David Nice, The Arts Desk)

The Pärnu Festival and Järvi Academy were founded by Paavo Järvi in 2011 together with his father, Neeme Järvi, and it’s family atmosphere envelopes the visiting musicians, students and audience alike creating a unique summer refuge on the Estonian coast.

Having grown up in Tallinn, Pärnu has always held a special place in Paavo’s heart as it was where the family traditionally gathered for summer holidays. During occupation it was also the summer home of artists including Dmitri Shostakovich and David Oistrakh who visited for the nearest thing to western tolerance and understanding in the Soviet Union. Pärnu was a place for artists to relax and enjoy each other’s company and it was here in 1973 that a young Paavo met Shostakovich for the first time.

It was also here that David Oistrakh invited musicians and students to join him for ad hoc performances in the little green Dacha which he rented each summer before his death in 1974. It was in this spirit that Paavo Järvi decided to return to Pärnu, surrounded by his family, and create a festival offering masterclasses to international young conductors, creating an Academy Orchestra comprising the very best of young Estonian musical talent and the Estonian Festival Orchestra – hand-picked by Paavo, including professional Estonian musicians complemented by soloists from the top European orchestras. In addition to playing in the Festival Orchestra, these guest musicians also perform chamber music concerts and offer advice to the younger generation of musicians.

The 2025 Pärnu Music Festival pays tribute to Arvo Pärt on his 90th birthday and celebrates the festival’s 15th edition in Estonia’s Summer Capital.

Neeme Järvi and the Järvi Academy Youth Orchestra open the festival with Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten (16 July), followed by Kristjan Järvi and Nordic Pulse with Pärt in Mirror, a specially curated programme that interweaves the music of Pärt with new works and improvisations (18 July).

Paavo Järvi conducts the Estonian Festival Orchestra in four concerts (19, 20 and 24, 25 July) all featuring works by Arvo Pärt, including Silhouette – dedicated to and premiered by Paavo and the Orchestre de Paris in 2015 at the opening concert of the Paris Philharmonie – and closing the festival with Credo – the work which provoked the Soviet Regime at its 1968 premiere in Tallinn, led by Neeme Järvi.

Championing Estonian music and musicians has always been an important part of the festival and this year Kalev Kuljus is soloist in the Estonian premiere of Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Oboe Concerto, co-commissioned by the festival (19 July). Further commissions include new works by Elis Hallik (20 July) and Alisson Kruusmaa (25 July), whilst violinists Hans Christian Aavik and Mari Poll are the soloists in a performance of Tabula Rasa (20 July).

Additional highlights include the festival debuts of guest soloists Iveta Apkalna (24 July) and Vilde Frang (25 July) who join Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra for performances of the Poulenc Organ Concerto and Beethoven Violin Concerto in the closing concerts.