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PLENARIES
ABOUT KERRI KOTTA
One of the most engaging aspects regarding the compositions of Kerri Kotta is the finetuned
and synthesis-oriented “stylistic plurality”. In Kotta’s music, jazz and minimalism
meet grandiose Bach-like rhetoric and a high-strung and fragmented, modernist
approach to sound. This, in most cases, does not entail dramatic contrasts of styles.
Kotta joins together different musics in a playful and delicately humorous manner.
Kerri Kotta studied music theory at the Tallinn Music High School and graduated
from the Tallinn Conservatoire in composition as a student of Jaan Rääts in 1993. In
1997, Kotta obtained a master’s degree in composition with Lepo Sumera in Estonian
Academy of Music and PhD degree in musicology (superviser Mart Humal) in 2004. He
has taken part in courses of composition and music analysis in Schwaz, Stuttgart and
Cracow. Kotta is a teacher of music theory subjects at the Tallinn University since 1994,
from 1998 also at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. From 2005, Kotta is
Associate Professor and head of the music theory department of Estonian Academy of
Music and Theatre and Associate Professor of Tallinn University. Kerri Kotta is a member
of the board of the Estonian Musicological Society.
Kerri Kotta’s works have been performed by Estonian National Symphony Orchestra,
NYYD Ensemble, double bass player Mati Lukk, organist Aare-Paul Lattik, pianist Mati
Mikalai and others. His music has been presented at the international new music festival
Nyyd, Estonian Music Days Festival and at festivals in Austria and Poland. In 1997, Kerri
Kotta’s Col legno for violin and orchestra got the 4th prize in the competition for
instrumental concerts organized by Estonian Cultural Endowment.
As a musicologist, Kerri Kotta focuses her research on harmonical-counterpointal
structure of various musical compositions. Kotta has published reviews and articles in
Estonian culture magazine Teater. Muusika. Kino and music magazine Muusika.
Source: Estonian Music Information Centre, www.emic.ee
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