Armastuse Rada-The Pathway of Love, a concert featuring musicians Kristina Agur, Stephen Bell, and Charles Kipper is coming up on March 5th. Presented by the Estonian Art Centre, this is the inaugural concert of the series Eesti Laul ja Laulja-Estonian Singer and Song. This will be a yearly event, spanning Estonian singers and songs of all styles.
Kristina, Stephen, and Charles are well known in the Toronto Estonian community, and are excited to perform this show in Toronto, kicking off a spring tour in Estonia. To create a more cohesive vibrant concert, they decided to move from the traditional vocal recital format. Instead of grouping pieces by composer, era, and closing crowd-pleasers, Armastuse Rada will combine music from different styles and languages. The final goal is to paint the picture of the different elements of the pathway through love. The human experience is defined by our connection to people and the world around us. Our path through life is marked by these people and places, and music allows us to express this. Of course, when opera singers get involved with a love story, some of the more distinctly melodramatic aspects appear…
The Toronto-Estonian community’s wealth of talented artists, and the support of the EAC, facilitated the addition of Maarika Lepik to the team. Bridging the gap between the musical and visual arts allows artists to bring more depth in the story. After meeting with Kristina to discuss the program and artistic ideas, Maarika was inspired to sketch a specific drawing (which will be unveiled March 5th!). To allow for the completed creation, Maarika decided to use stop-motion animation, so the audience can see the sketch come alive as the musicians tell their tale.
Finally, as the first stop of a three concert tour, this will be one of Kristina’s last solo outings before moving to Europe. The concert will be held in the Kristall Saal at the Toronto Estonian House on March 5th at 2pm. Tickets are $20, to be purchased at the door.