XXXIV Rapla Church Music Festival

“It’s important that other areas in Estonia besides the capital are valued” - Pille Lill, festival's artistic director. This quote sums up the importance of organizing classical music festivals outside the main cities, for example in Rapla.

This year's (2026) festival opens with an opening concert "Gabreli and Pärt" on the 27th of June at the Rapla Church - performed by the Estonian National Male Choir, conductor Mikk Üleoja. The winner of the "Raplamaa Young Musician 2026" Grand Prix will be announced at the concert.

The ending concert of the festival is on the 12th of July where the ​Tallinn Chamber Choir,Mixed Choir Cantus will perform John Rutter's “Requiem”, Arvo Pärt's “Salve Regina” and “Trivium”, conductors Heli Jürgenson and Martin Trudnikov. Soloist Mariliis Lahesalu (soprano). Chamber ensemble: Mari-Liis Vind (flute), Aleksander Hännikäinen (oboe), Andreas Lend (cello), Saale Kivimaker (harp), Gertrud Leopard (glockenspiel), Teodor Hirvoja (timpani) and Ene Salumäe (organ).​

Traditionally we have an XI International Singers' Summer Academy (8.-13.07) where you can take courses from the world-famous tenor Fabio Armiliato (IT) and coach Simone Maria Marziali (IT). ​Registration is open until the 1st of June (for more information send a letter to plmf@plmf.ee).

Every year we have a festival patron who presents the religious community and is one of the spokespersons of the festival. Urmas Viilma (archbishop of Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church) has been the patron since 2015. This year the meeting-speech with the archbishop is before the opening concert on the 27th of June at 6PM.

The history of the festival dates back in 1993, when Toompea Kaarli choir performed in Rapla church led by Ene Üleoja and Piret Aidulo. These first classical music concert series held in Rapla was the beginning of the Rapla Church Music Festival. The varied genres and pieces of music which were played remain the basis of the festival to this day. While being flexible and fresh, the festival surprises its audience with new exciting performers every summer.

The concerts of Rapla Music Festival have reached seven different counties and have been held around Estonia too, among other cities also in Tallinn and Haapsalu. The majority of the concerts take place around Rapla but bigger projects reach outside the borders of Estonia.

During the first couple of decades, the festival has maintained loyal listeners who choose concerts to attend based on the performer, music or the instrument. The long forms, however, have always been the crowd’s favorite. It’s greatly appreciated that this powerful music has been played here a lot.

Since 2010, the new creative director of the festival is an Estonian well-known opera singer Pille Lill, who has received a warm welcome during the years she has performed in the festival. PLMF Music Trust that she founded in 2003 created Rapla's International Summer Academy which participants also get a chance to perform during the festival concerts. Workshops have been held for singers, but also for string and brass instruments and also for conductors in different ages. Among a number of teachers there have been: Wilma Venocchi (Italy), Margareta Haverinen-Brandt (Finland), Daniel Nodel (Germany), Mari Tampere-Bezrodny, Peeter Peamurru and many others. PLMF is to this day the organiser of the festival and develops successfully international cooperation. For example, 2020, as a project with the European Union, the concert of Camerata Nordica (https://cameratanordica.com/) was one of the most memorable pearls of the festival. In 2016 we had the honour to host the Youth Orchestra of Americas YOA (http://oamericas.org/) and world-class musicians as Gautier Capuçon and Alexandra Soumm, conductors as Carlos Miguel Prieto and Benjamin Zander and many others.

See you at the Rapla Church Music Festival!