Contact: Andrea Ebeling, Public Relations Assistant, 920-832-6585 or andrea.ebeling@lawrence.edu
For Immediate Release
September 28, 2006

Estonian Chorale Group to Perform at Lawrence University

APPLETON, WIS. — Ensemble Heinavaker, an Estonian chorale group, will perform at Lawrence University at 8:00 p.m. October 6 in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The concert is open to the public and a freewill offering will be taken.

Gregorian chants, early polyphony, and Estonian sacred folk songs form the basis of this concert. Most of the songs that will be performed are taken from The Lutheran Hymnal, but the melodies are embellished so that they are not easily recognized. Four of the evening's selections are by composer Johannes Ockeghem, whose music is an extraordinary balance between hidden mathematical constructions and the apparently spontaneous melody lines, which they help construct, but which, nevertheless remain unexpected. Toward the end of the concert one of the oldest and most distinctive examples of Estonian culture will be performed. "Loomiselaul" or "The Creation" is a pre-Christian runic song believed to be a vocal tradition dating back many thousands of years.

The members of Ensemble Heinavaker began making music together in 1988 in Tallinn, Estonia, and have been touring extensively since 1996. The ensemble got its name after the famous altarpiece of Hieronymus Bosch. This rare piece of art depicts a praying angel and hidden demon vying for possession of the beautiful music atop a hay wagon headed for destruction.