---
title: "Pictures: Arvo Pärt at 90"
id: "81860"
type: "post"
slug: "pictures-arvo-part-at-90"
published_at: "2025-09-11T13:21:50+00:00"
modified_at: "2025-09-11T16:38:51+00:00"
url: "https://estonianworld.com/culture/pictures-arvo-part-at-90/"
markdown_url: "https://estonianworld.com/culture/pictures-arvo-part-at-90.md"
excerpt: "Arvo Pärt, Estonia’s most celebrated composer and one of the world’s most performed living musicians, turned 90 on 11 September. Born in Paide in 1935 […]"
taxonomy_category:
  - "Culture"
  - "Pictures"
publisher: "Estonian World"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Estonian World"
author_url: "https://estonianworld.com/author/estonianworld/"
---

# Pictures: Arvo Pärt at 90

![Arvo Pärt at the Arvo Pärt Centre, 11 September 2025. Photo by Birgit Püve.](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/547477710_1382972113395151_8932076879116267199_n-1024x704.jpg)

Arvo Pärt at the Arvo Pärt Centre, 11 September 2025. Photo by Birgit Püve.

By  [Estonian World](https://estonianworld.com/author/estonianworld/)
  ·  September 11, 2025  · [Culture](https://estonianworld.com/category/culture/)
, [Pictures](https://estonianworld.com/category/pictures/)
 · 2 minutes of reading

### Arvo Pärt, Estonia’s most celebrated composer and one of the world’s most performed living musicians, turned 90 on 11 September.

Born in Paide in 1935 and raised in Rakvere, Pärt is known for his starkly beautiful *tintinnabuli* style – a musical language that has carried him from Soviet-era censorship to the world’s great concert halls. Over the past 15 years he has been showered with major honours, among them Japan’s Praemium Imperiale, Sweden’s Polar Music Prize and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gold Medal. His works such as *Fratres*, *Spiegel im Spiegel* and *Tabula Rasa* are performed across continents, heard as much for their austerity as for their quiet power.

The 90th birthday was marked today at the [Arvo Pärt Centre](https://www.arvopart.ee/en/)
 in Laulasmaa, where family, colleagues and admirers gathered for a programme of music and tributes. It was a fitting celebration for a composer whose work, born of silence and struggle, continues to [speak of unity](https://estonianworld.com/opinion/arvo-part-at-90-a-composer-of-unity-in-an-age-of-division/)
 in a fractured world.

[https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/547562048_1190921616189637_8159837643462427208_n.jpg](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/547562048_1190921616189637_8159837643462427208_n.jpg)

Arvo Pärt (left) congratulated by Estonian president Alar Karis at his home, 11 September 2025. Photo by Birgit Püve.

[https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/547510130_10163315782438270_4666765892790149522_n.jpg](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/547510130_10163315782438270_4666765892790149522_n.jpg)

Arvo Pärt (centre) at the Arvo Pärt Centre, 11 September 2025. Photo by Birgit Püve.

[https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/546703535_10163315782828270_7625487686627185697_n.jpg](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/546703535_10163315782828270_7625487686627185697_n.jpg)

Arvo Pärt at the Arvo Pärt Centre, 11 September 2025. Photo by Birgit Püve.

[https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/547101396_10163315786373270_8442799979634066265_n.jpg](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/547101396_10163315786373270_8442799979634066265_n.jpg)

Arvo Pärt (right) at the Arvo Pärt Centre, 11 September 2025. Photo by Birgit Püve.

[https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/546604565_1382951103397252_8613140630110901484_n.jpg](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/546604565_1382951103397252_8613140630110901484_n.jpg)

Arvo Pärt (centre) with his family and the staff of the Arvo Pärt Centre, 11 September 2025. Photo by Birgit Püve.

[https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/546171253_10163315786778270_5368193526453268254_n.jpg](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/546171253_10163315786778270_5368193526453268254_n.jpg)

Arvo Pärt (centre) with his family and the staff of the Arvo Pärt Centre, 11 September 2025. Photo by Birgit Püve.

*Read also: [Arvo Pärt: a visual retrospective](https://estonianworld.com/culture/arvo-part-a-visual-retrospective/)*

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[Estonian World](https://estonianworld.com)
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