7.5.2025 | Culture

Where Sound, Song, and Visual Converge

Text Stewart Johnson 
Photos press material

Nordic Voices

COMMUTE #7 is a portmanteau of COMposition and MUsic TEchnology, an annual festival held by EMTA, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. Combining compositions as well as improvised music with visual artistry, this festival offers audiences unique experiences ranging from live concerts to films. The theme of this year’s event is “Wellbeing”, a special focus on mental health issues.

The festival will kick off with an English-language discussion panel titled, “Being Well in Music”. Panel members will be clinical psychologists and musical therapists, with artists also participating. The central theme of the discussion will be how the creative process, specifically creating music, affects emotional health. How important is self-expression?

There will be two performances of Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera, “Medium”. A psychological tale of a false psychic who travels ever more deeply into inner chaos, eventually reaching a stage where paranoia, alcoholism, and violence merge together. This production of “Medium”, originally staged in 1946, combines music with video art to captivate audiences.

Kenneth Flak “Superpositions of Infinite Spaces”

No festival featuring visual arts would be complete with a dance performance. “Superpositions of Infinite Spaces” explores what happens when the ground you stand on comes alive, breathes, and becomes untrustworthy. Dancers will discover each other’s body movements and boundaries, only able to reach a deeper understanding together.

Complementing these performances will be many other concerts and exhibitions of vocals, photographs, literature, and music by Estonian artists and international visitors. The COMMUTE #7 festival will culminate with a concert by Belgian ensemble Fractales. Tickets to all the events are available here.