Ensemble U: • Estonian Music Week 2025

A groundbreaking concert by leading contemporary music ensemble featuring an augmented reality enhanced cosmic journey set to the music of Canadian-Estonian composer Udo Kasemets.

This concert is made possible thanks to the generous support of Alan Teder in memory of his piano and music theory teacher Udo Kasemets.

Ensemble U: (EST)

Contemporary sound & vision architects. Currently the most active and renowned contemporary music ensemble in Estonia. It has gained recognition for its ability to perform even the most demanding works without a conductor, openness to bold experimental ideas and sensitivity to sound. U: performs the masterworks of modern composers as well as experimental compositions. One distinct field for U: is to delve into improvisational works and perform pieces that require the rendering of non-traditional notation. The repertoire includes composers from Estonia and abroad and the ensemble values the opportunity to continuously commission new music to be written for them.

Performing Udo Kasemets  is Ensemble U: [EE], who have been working with University of Toronto Music Faculty and the Canadian Music Centre in order to develop historically-informed performances of the composer's works. An augmented reality (AR) component allows the audience to “view the cosmos” using their mobile phone.

Udo Kasemets - “Timetrip to Big Bang and Back” -1992

Udo Kasemets saw music as one of man's attempts to understand the universe. This work has literally brought the structures of the universe into scores, and U: and eˉlektron in turn make them partially visible again with the help of augmented reality, not to mention the enchanting sounds.

All works in the cycle “Timetrip to Big Bang and Back” are related to various cosmological phenomena and the theme of time and space. Originally, the work was intended to be performed with dancers, video projection, and electronic sounds. This time, the performance will include “Messiermusics”, which is based on Charles Messier's catalog of constellations, “Harmonices Mundi of Johannes Kepler”, which in its own way models the Solar System, “Galactic / Quasaric Supersonics”, which measures the visible universe, and “Hadrond”, which penetrates the world of elementary particles.

To make all this more perceptible to the listener's senses, Augmented Reality (AR) technology is used, which brings celestial bodies and phenomena that can be thousands of light years away into the concert hall. The concert will feature two special instruments - Columbine and Amaranth, which were built according to the instructions of the instrument's author Gayle Young (Canada).

Avant-garde music great Udo Kasemets (1919-2014) is one of the most unique, radical and interesting composers from Estonia. He has been jokingly called the least known, most famous Estonian composer, and there is an article about him in almost every reputable music encyclopedia. In Canada, where Udo Kasemets spent most of his life, he was called "probably the most uncompromising musician in the history of Canadian music", his influence on Toronto's music scene and subsequent generations is difficult to overestimate.

Doors open: 4pm

Show starts: 5pm

The performance will last 60 minutes with no intermission. Please arrive early in order to receive instructions on how to install the app needed to enjoy the AR component of this concert on your mobile phone.

Estonian Music Week 2025 festival

This concert is part of the Estonian Music Week (EMW) festival programme running May 22-25. Experience it all with a Festival Pass - 8 concerts from incredible Estonian and Canadians artists. Learn more about festival passes. With performances from folktronica to contemporary classical music, EMW is sure to become your new favourite early-summer music festival. Explore the line-up here.

EMW is made possible by:

Project:

Estonian Museum Canada / VEMU, Tartu College

Major funder:

Estonian Foundation of Canada

Funders:

Toronto Arts Council, Estonian Embassy in Ottawa, Cultural Endowment of Estonia

Sponsors:

Northern Birch Credit Union

Presenting Partners:

SING! The Toronto International Vocal Arts Festival, Wavelength, Humber Polytechnic's Centre for Creative Business Innovation, The Cotton Factory

Media Partners:

Eesti Elu, Exclaim!, WholeNote

Ticketing Partner:

Sviby