We preserve the living tradition of traditional music and our national and regional identity on stage, in education, and in everyday life.
The NGO Estonian Traditional Music Center is a nationwide, non-governmental organization that supports and organizes traditional music education and promotes the live performance of traditional music in an open and innovative manner.The Estonian Traditional Music Center bases its activities on the traditional music curriculum of the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy's music department and serves as a partner and information center for music schools, civic associations, traditional music ensembles, folklore groups, individual musicians, and traditional music enthusiasts in Estonia.
Since the spring of 2008, the Estonian Traditional Music Center has been operating in the beautiful Traditional Music Barn located in Viljandi Castle Hills, where year-round concerts are held. The center also operates a training center and houses a traditional music information collection.
We believe that traditional music extends beyond the confines of home, both in live performances and as part of digital culture, without losing its authentic and tradition-based essence.
It all started in 1993
On May 15, 1993, the Society of Young Musicians was founded in Viljandi, and PÄRIMUSA, the first day dedicated to traditional music, took place at the Viljandi Song Festival Grounds. With 200 attendees, this event marked the beginning of it all.
Traditional Music Center in the Viljandi Castle Hills
On March 28, 2008, the new home of the Estonian Traditional Music Center was opened in the Viljandi Castle Hills. The building hosts year-round concerts and also becomes the venue for the August Pulst Study Center, a free education school, and the Traditional Music Information Center.
A million visits
The Estonian Traditional Music Center has organized over 500 concerts, 120 Dance Houses, and 300 singing, play, and family circles for young children in the Center. Approximately 14,000 visitors have booked tours, and the number of users of the information center exceeds this figure. For adults, there have been 450 training sessions and courses, and over a thousand camps and courses for young people.
The Traditional Music Archive
ETHNO camps
Each year, the camp hosts over 60 participants from around the world. In the camp, participants learn music from different countries by ear, directly from one another. The idea is to provide young musicians with a glimpse of other cultures and the opportunity to create a valuable global network for the future.
Merike Paberits: "The ETHNO camp is a safe place where it is possible to share your culture, your feelings and essence, your music. Everything is accompanied by collaboration" (Sirp, 2022).
31 years of the Viljandi Folk Music Festival
The folk music festival that takes place in Viljandi Castle Hills and city center every July is the ultimate expression of the unique way of thinking that started spreading in the beginning of the 1990s. It values tradition, heritage and local identity and tries to adapt the spiritual values that people have developed over hundreds and thousands of years to the contemporary way of life. The aim of all of it is to keep our traditions alive, strengthen our national character and invigorate our musical mother tongue.