Suddenly A Tiny Country Feels Like A Very Big Place

Estonian Choir from Seattle marching in Song Festival Parade in Tallinn.     Photo by VES

Estonians say that everything changes in Tallinn during the week of the quintennial song and dance festival that everyone calls Laulupidu.

This  northern Baltic nation's long, dark winters give way to 20 hours of sunshine per day, tourists arrive, and the normally reserved natives of this tiny nation (population 1.3 million) exuberantly celebrate the music and dance of their unique culture and history.

This year's festival was attended by 153,000 spectators and featured 42,000 performers, including more than 1,000 choirs and 654 dance groups, who over the course of three days reveled in traditional and contemporary Estonian music and dances in often-multitudinous aggregations.

While most performers were selected by local auditions, the festival also chose a few foreign ensembles from many applicants—including singers and dancers from Oregon's Unistus Choir.

Director Lonnie Cline of Clackamas Community College fell in love with Estonian music when he first heard it at a choral conference two decades ago and founded Unistus, named after the Estonian word for "dream," to sing mostly traditional and contemporary Estonian music.

"The Estonians take their music very seriously because that's how they've maintained their identity," Mr. Cline explains.

Read more about Laulupidu’s coverage at Wall Street Journal”s website:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/singing-for-freedom-at-estonias-laulupidu-festival-1405550002