Maarja Purga, Sten Lassmann, Mari-Liis Vind, Kirill Ogorodnikov, Valle-Rasmus Roots
Biography Maarja Purga, Sten Lassmann, Mari-Liis Vind, Kirill Ogorodnikov, Valle-Rasmus Roots
Maarja Purga
completed her singing studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and at the Cologne University of Music and Dance under Lioba Braun, where she graduated with a Master of Music in July 2014. Her uniquely warm voice and wide range enable her to sing a large repertoire in the late romantic and bel canto periods. In the course of her still young career, she has devoted herself to opera as well as symphonic and sacred music. She gained her opera stage experience as Trude/landlady/fairy tale woman in S. Wagner's "An Allem ist Hütchen schuld" with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lionel Friend, as Orlovksy as part of the Festival Klassik in The Hague and through the roles of Flora in "La Traviata" (Theater Solingen), Un Patre in Ravel's "L'enfant et les sortileges" (Theater Aachen), Cherubino from Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" (Festival Kunst achter de raamen, Holland), and the 3rd Lady in Ernst Krenek's "Das Geheime Königreich" (HfMT Köln). Her most recent engagement took her to the Cologne Opera, where she took part in L. Janacek's "Tagebuch des Verschollenen" and G. Holst's "Savitri". She has also performed at festivals such as Ammerseerenade, Rotterdam Operadagen and at the Young Composers Meeting Apeldoorn. In the concert area, she was recently heard in the Estonian Philharmonic with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra in G.F. Handel's “Dixit Dominus” and in W.A. Mozart's “Missa solmenis” with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn. Under the direction of Prof. R. Schuhenn, she has performed several times in various sacred works, including the Verdi Requiem, Durufle Requiem and the Mass by I. Stravinsky. She took on the alto parts in the world premieres of P.H. Thielen's “Life of the Virgin Mary”, J.S. Bach's “Christmas Oratorio” and F. Mendelssohn's “Elias”. Her preference for vocal symphonic music is particularly noteworthy, which recently led her to interpret the “Song of the Earth” under the direction of M. Luig. Regular concert tours take her to Italy, Finland and Estonia, as well as to Switzerland and the Netherlands. She has also attended master classes at home and abroad with Dalia Schächter, Edda Moser, Ira Siff, Derek Lee Ragin and Annette Robbert and has sung under conductors such as Lionel Friend, Witolf Werner, Michael Luig, Peter Kuhn, Herbert Görtz, Reiner Schuhenn and Risto Joost. In 2016, her artistic work was recognized with the Richard Wagner Scholarship, awarded by the Richard Wagner Association Ammersee. In addition to singing, Maarja Purga also gives master classes for singers at the Bach Academy Stuttgart and the Estonian Music Academy, among others.
