Ars Musica Festival 2026 — ARCTIC FEVER

PĒTERIS VASKS AT 80 | FLYING BIRDS

A full day dedicated to the 80th birthday of Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, with three concerts presented by Collegium Balticum & Chamber Music for Europe.

The day begins with an instrumental concert in which the birds are the first to make themselves heard.

The music of Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks is deeply rooted in his country’s cultural heritage. It reflects a strong ecological awareness and evokes the lost paradise of a disappearing natural world. Drawing on a timeless tradition, his work blends the flowing melodies of folk dances with the quiet spirituality of slow, contemplative choral music.

Over the course of several decades, Vasks has built an impressive body of work, ranging from solo piano pieces and chamber music to symphonic and concertante works, with the voice often playing a central role. His clear, refined and understated musical language has made him one of the leading figures in Baltic music.

The Etcaetera Wind Quintet and the Spilliaert Piano Trio perform in a concert without human voices, but accompanied by the morning’s earliest singers: the birds

Etcaetera Wind Quintet

• Tim Van Thuyne – oboe
• Apolline Degoutte – flute
• Léolun Planchon – clarinet
• Adrien Goldschmidt – bassoon
• Urmin Nes Majstorovic – horn

Trio Spilliaert

• Gauvain De Morant – piano
• Jean-Samuel Bez – violin
• Guillaume Lagravière – cello

Program

• Pēteris Vasks – Wind Quintet No. 1 « Flying Birds »
• Pēteris Vasks – Castillo Interior
• Pēteris Vasks – Landscape with Birds
• Pēteris Vasks – Lonely Angels
• Erkki-Sven Tüür – Architectonics I

Tickets

• €8 / €6 / €1.25
• 3-concert pass: €20 / €14

This concert is part of the Ars Musica 2026 programme, themed Arctic Fever. From Iceland to the Baltic states, this edition explores the musical landscapes of a North where vast expanses of ice, water and forests resonate through contemporary creation. In Vasks’ work, this relationship with nature takes on a particular resonance: nature, at once refuge, memory and a fragile world, runs through his music as an essential presence.