On August 7, during the celebration of Veljo Tormis’s 95th anniversary at the beloved composer’s birthplace in Kõrveaia, the 2025 Veljo Tormis Fund Scholarship, administered by the Estonian National Culture Foundation, was presented. The €4,000 award was granted to Ülo Krigul.
According to Aarne Saluveer, Chairman of the Fund’s Board, the members of the Veljo Tormis Fund’s Board: Tõnu Kõrvits, Leelo Tungal, Taavi Esko, and Jaagup Tormis, were unanimous in their decision that Ülo Krigul’s work follows the principles Veljo Tormis had in mind when establishing the fund.
Ülo Krigul (born November 7, 1978) is an Estonian composer with a master’s degree in composition from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. He is also a music organizer, having founded the Academy’s Autumn Festival, and from 2004 to 2014 served together with Timo Steiner as the artistic director and producer of the annual Estonian Music Days.
Krigul’s works have been performed at contemporary music festivals in Estonia and at concerts abroad, including at the Konzerthaus Berlin (Germany), the Vienna Musikverein (Austria), in the Czech Republic, Latvia, Ukraine, at the Finlandia Hall in Helsinki (Finland), and at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Portugal, among others. In 2019, he was composer-in-residence with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, which also commissioned two new works from him that year: And the sea arose and a new a cappella composition. His piece Põrguwärk was featured in the opening concert of this year’s Song Celebration Ise oma, performed by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ENSO).
The Veljo Tormis Fund was established in 2000 under the Estonian National Culture Foundation at the initiative of composer Veljo Tormis and the Estonian Choral Association, with the aim of promoting nationally oriented choral music. Scholarships from the Veljo Tormis Fund are awarded in Song and Dance Celebration years and on Veljo Tormis’s jubilee years, on his birthday, August 7.
Previous recipients of the Veljo Tormis Scholarship for their distinctive style and contemporary national musical language include composers Ester Mägi (2004), Urmas Sisask (2006), Piret Rips-Laul (2009), Pärt Uusberg (2011), Tauno Aints (2017), Mart Rasmus Puur (2020), and Mariliis Valkonen (2023).