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Performance
Silvia Ilves’s life weaves together a music career and motherhood. On stage she is a dedicated cellist; at home she is a mother whose life centres on her children and the world they share.
Combining these two roles takes energy, courage and a constant search for balance. Yet it is personal experience that gives the music a special dimension: feelings that can’t be learned from the score alone.
For Silvia, music is not a separate part of life. It grows out of her experiences, relationships and love.
Silvia Ilves’s sons are like four completely different worlds, yet in the spirit of the musketeers: “All for one, one for all!” Each has his own character, dreams, strengths and way of perceiving music and life. What unites them is an extraordinary bond with music, which has become a natural part of their everyday lives. All the boys entered the world of music at the age of six or seven, and today music has become far more to their family than just a hobby: it is a shared language through which to express themselves, grow together and share emotions with the audience.
A pianist with great ambitions and even greater dreams.
Stefan is an ambitious young pianist with an extraordinarily quick ability to learn, whose musical journey began at the age of six. From a very young age he stood out for his exceptional musical talent and the physical attributes so important to a pianist. In the family they joke that Stefan has the hands of pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. It is no coincidence that he plays even very demanding repertoire with effortless ease, including Liszt’s famous “Mephisto Waltz”.
Today Stefan has considerable international performing experience and has had several opportunities to appear as a soloist with an orchestra, which is remarkable for such a young pianist. He studies at MUBA, the Tallinn School of Music and Ballet, under Sten Lassmann and Maigi Pakri, and already performs at an international level.
Stefan is marked by a rare courage in taking on challenges. He loves difficult repertoire and often chooses the pieces he wants to learn himself. His ambitions always reach a little further than what is expected of someone his age. If someone thinks a piece is still too hard for him, it only motivates him more. Stefan knows what he wants. He has reached a musical maturity in which he understands the work and dedication it takes to get to the top. His greatest dream is to become one of the world’s leading pianists. There is something in his stage presence and willpower that recalls the true Beethoven.
1st place
International Competition “Young Musician”
Peter Toperczer International Piano Competition, Slovakia
Eesti Kõla
55th International Piano Competition
“Virtuosi per musica di pianoforte”, Czech Republic
International Competition “Young Musician”
Oscar Strok International Competition
Eesti Kõla
Eesti Kõla
Best Young Instrumentalist
Tallinn Talent
A joyful cellist and the family’s great joker.
There is a healthy dose of Jim Carrey in Tristan’s remarkable character, the family jokes. He is by nature a cheerful, playful young man with a great sense of humour, who knows how to enjoy life and not take everything too seriously. He is a true sports lover, whose world has room for both an active lifestyle and music.
Tristan began studying the cello at the age of six. He studies at MUBA with Mart Laas and also takes extra lessons with Korean cellist Seulki Lee and Estonian cellists Marius Järvi and Valle-Rasmus Roots. He too is already an internationally recognised cellist and has appeared several times as a soloist with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. The cello lets him express his more sensitive, deeper side as well as his mischievous character, which comes through especially well on the concert stage. Although in everyday life Tristan is the family’s ball of joy, on stage he can focus and show the true face of a professional artist.
What makes him special is his ability to combine music and the joy of living. Tristan is in no hurry to overcomplicate life; he enjoys the journey, new experiences and everything life has to offer.
The young cellist already has an impressive list of results:
Best Young Instrumentalist
International Competition “Young Musician”
David Geringas International Cello Competition, Klaipėda
Saulius Sondeckis International Competition, Šiauliai
Best Young Instrumentalist
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
Tallinn Talent
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Casadesus Cello Concerto in C minor
Best Young Instrumentalist
The family’s heartfelt gem on the violin.
A sincere, kind-hearted and conscientious violinist. His mother Silvia admits that Tristan and Stefan decided Christopher’s fate as a violinist.
He attends Tallinn Cathedral School and studies the violin at Vanalinna Hariduskolleegium with Silvia’s sister, violin teacher Aleksandra Haidak. He too began his musical journey at the age of six.
Christopher is marked by a sense of duty, sensitivity and a sweet natural sincerity. His musical development moves at its own pace, because every young artist needs the time and guidance that suit them to grow. Christopher is a boy who needs big goals and an inspiring environment to discover his abilities and build his confidence. The concerts they play together give him the chance to feel the joy of being on stage, see his own progress and find an ever more personal way of expressing himself.
A future engineer whose heart belongs to singing.
Arthur is a boy whose future is already quite firmly set: he is going to be an engineer! But one thing is certain: even as an engineer, he intends to do it singing.
Arthur’s desire to sing is extraordinary, and music is a natural way for him to express himself. He started singing at the age of seven and stands out for his courage and natural confidence on stage. This young man knows no stage fright; the young talent is convinced that performing is an opportunity rather than a challenge. Arthur steps in front of the audience directly and sincerely, enjoying the chance to share emotions through his voice. What is especially delightful about him is that big plans for the future and a love of music need not rule each other out. You can become an engineer while singing, too!
Each boy is in his own right the greatest artist of his own life. It is the sons’ differences that make their concerts together so special. On stage five distinctive personalities meet, each with their own story, style of expression and relationship with music. Yet a shared love of art creates a bond that reaches beyond notes and instruments.
Music gives them the chance to grow, experiment, dream and learn from one another. And so every concert becomes a small story of four brothers, five different artists and one great musical world.
20.11
29.11
Sadala Rahvamaja
at 15:00
Donation ticket €5
05.12
10.12
18.12
19.12
22.12
26.12
05.03
Voore Seltsimaja
at 19:00
Tickets
Silvia’s story is a reminder that strength doesn’t mean the absence of hardship. Sometimes strength means being able to carry on, to hold on to those close to you and to find your way back, even in difficult moments, to what you love most.
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Well-loved Christmas songs and classical melodies for the whole family. Choose your city.