Erik Kreem and his music have been featured previously in the “Memories of Home” online concert series presented by VEMU and its project Estonian Music Week. And also in the pages of Eesti Elu / Estonian Life newspaper. But never on an episode of EstoCast.

There’s a good deal to catch up on, and Erik has a bundle of stories and thought-provoking musical commentary to kick off this new season of our podcast.

In this episode of EstoCast, hear about:

🎼 the beauty and ease of the piano to channel ideas from the mind into compositions

🎼 J.S. Bach’s musical challenge from King Frederick II of Prussia

🎼 his playing on a 1,077 pipe organ for a recent folk rock song

🎼 and much more!

Things mentioned in this episode include:

-Erik’s “Memories of Home” concert video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q6rHaU2LV0

-Follow Erik Kreem on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikkreemmusic/

-Bach's Mass in B minor (BWV 232): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FLbiDrn8IE

- “Laulja” by Veljo Tormis: https://www.google.com/search?q=laulja+veljo+tormis+2025#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:d8223314,vid:a1SfeU8y8aQ,st:0

- “Give Me Love” by Renan Deodato, which Erik played organ on: https://open.spotify.com/track/2GCe7wqZU2FpIDujKGjgVX?si=A_OK5jCrQB-vXCdhJYgPbw&nd=1&dlsi=d945453b5b644f71

-Erik demonstrates the organ of St. Peter's Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Toronto: https://eestielu.ca/watch-this-estonian-canadian-shows-us-the-physics-of-a-massive-pipe-organ/

-Bach’s “Crab Canon” on a Möbius Strip, part of “Das Musikalische Opfer” (“The Musical Offering”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUHQ2ybTejU&t=75s

-Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24113.G_del_Escher_Bach

-Images and videos of Erik Kreem’s “Päike, Kuu” being performed in 2023: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn0xNptsck2/?hl=en&img_index=1

-More about Erik Kreem’s work with the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra: https://ksorchestra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Kreem_Waltz.pdf

-Chopin’s Ballade No. 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F5glYefwio&pp=0gcJCfwAo7VqN5tD

Socials:

➡️ @estonianmusicweek
https://www.facebook.com/EstonianMusicWeek

➡️ https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

➡️ @eestielu.ca
https://www.facebook.com/eestielu.ca/events

➡️ @vemu.emc
https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

Tere tulemast EstoCasti värske, 4. hooaja esimesse saatesse! Kuna käimas on raamatuaasta, räägime antropoloogi ja raamatusõbra Anna-Kristiina Paega raamatute lugemisest, aga ka kirjutamisest. Anna-Kristiina oli augustikuus külas VEMU arhiivis Torontos, kus ta tegi magistriõppe praktikat, kogudes materjali oma uurimistöö jaoks. Saates kuulete, millistesse riikidesse on Anna-Kristiina elutee teda viinud, mis teda võlub raamatute juures ja miks on tore olla raamatukoi. Head kuulamist!

Tänases saates kuulete:

📕 kuidas raamatukoguhoidja tütrest sai kirglik lugeja, aga ka luuletaja

📗 kas antropoloogia-õpingutel on pistmist kirjandusega

📘 kuidas elamine erinevates kultuurides ja lugemine mitmes keeles avardab vaadet nii kirjandusele kui maailmale

📙 millised on Anna-Kristiina meeldejäävaimad lugemiselamused läbi aegade

Saates mainiti:

- “Karlsson katuselt,” Astrid Lindgren: https://rahvaraamat.ee/et/raamatud/lasteraamatud/nooremale-koolieale-vanus-7-9/karlsson-katuselt/22622

- “Sipsik,” Eno Raud: https://rahvaraamat.ee/et/raamatud/lasteraamatud/nooremale-koolieale-vanus-7-9/sipsik/27130

- “Viplala lood,” Annie M.G. Schmidt: https://rahvaraamat.ee/et/raamatud/lasteraamatud/nooremale-koolieale-vanus-7-9/viplala-lood/1993230

- “Bullerby lapsed,” Astrid Lindgren: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32805115-bullerby-lapsed

- “East of Eden,” John Steinbeck: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4406.East_of_Eden

- “The Death of Tony: On Belonging in Two Worlds,” Antanas Sileika: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-death-of-tony-on-belonging-in-two-worlds/9781738993345.html

- “Tantsi tolm põrandast,” Kairi Look: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223872935-tantsi-tolm-p-randast

- Jack London, kirjanik: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jack-London

Socials:

➡️ @estonianmusicweek
https://www.facebook.com/EstonianMusicWeek

➡️ https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

➡️ @eestielu.ca
https://www.facebook.com/eestielu.ca/events

➡️ @vemu.emc
https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

When the grandmother of Camille Intson (AKA Camie, @thecamiliad ) passed away, she left countless photographs and pieces of history that led Camille to investigate her family history and Estonian heritage in a deep way, ultimately leading to a road trip across Estonia with her mother and eventually, an exhibit at VEMU Estonian Museum Canada.

As we found out in conversation with her recently, this journey and her research practice is intertwined with a career as a musician, playwright, and artist.

In the latest episode of EstoCast, hear:

📸how Camille witnessed the ongoing military legacy of her great-grandfather in Estonia

🎙️how connections with other people and places form into songs

⚖️a discussion about truth, subjectivity, and unanswerable questions

🔉and much more

Things mentioned in this episode include:

-Camie’s 2019 album Renegade: https://open.spotify.com/album/3tI8Nj1NJvRCCZyyKXMyBG

-her 2024 album POEMS IN THE ASHES: https://open.spotify.com/album/1RB0nN7UrhW02TpBujwEJQ

-the 2021 EP Troubadour: https://open.spotify.com/album/2GxCg101ZEaRRQv200YXbt

-Camille and her mother’s exhibit “To Estonia, With Love: An Intergenerational Travelogue”: https://www.vemu.ca/event/exhibition-opening-to-estonia-with-love-an-intergenerational-travelogue/

-Camie’s song “Claudia”: https://open.spotify.com/track/5PnwXSFlaHJ6ik8rneucN9

-the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory: https://mnemosyne.ee/en/

-more about their summer program: https://mnemosyne.ee/en/the-estonian-institute-of-historical-memory-summer-school-for-teachers-scholars-28-july-2-august-2024-the-fateful-year-of-1944/

-Camille’s maternal great-grandfather, Johann-Bernhard Haljaste: http://prosopos.esm.ee/index.aspx?type=1

-a bit more about the Pioneer Battalion (Pioneerpataljon) based in Nõmme, Tallinn: https://db.esap.ee/object/t-1460

-Camille Intson’s plays: https://www.camilleintson.com/playwriting

-The Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto: https://ischool.utoronto.ca/

-the Queer GLAM course at U of T: https://ischool.utoronto.ca/course/queer-glam/

Socials:

➡️ @estonianmusicweek
https://www.facebook.com/EstonianMusicWeek

➡️ https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

➡️ @eestielu.ca
https://www.facebook.com/eestielu.ca/events

➡️ @vemu.emc
https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

Küllap oleme kõik filmihuvilised - käime kinos uusi linateoseid vaatamas või naudime neid kodus striimides. Kuid millised on filmitööstuse telgitagused? Kuidas jõudis üks Kanada eestlane filmiinimeste mekasse, Hollywoodi, ja kuidas ta ennast seal tunneb? Vastuseid neile küsimustele ja palju muud huvitavat leiate meie tuliuues vestluses filmioperaator Alar Kiviloga.

Värskes saates kuulete:

🎬 Alar Kivilo perekonna teekonnast Kanadasse ja tema lapsepõlvest Montrealis

🎬 Kuidas jõudis filmimees Hollywoodi

🎬 Mis teda filmikunsti puhul kõige enam käivitab ja inspireerib

🎬 Ameerika ja Euroopa filmitööstuse erinevustest

Saates mainiti:

Pimedate Ööde filmifestival: https://poff.ee/

Alari raamat “Operaator. Meie mees Hollywoodis”: https://rahvaraamat.ee/et/raamatud/biograafiad-ja-memuaarid/kirjandus-teater-ja-kino/operaator-meie-mees-hollywoodis/1588847

Tõde ja õigus film (“Truth and Justice”): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5593384/

“Schindler’s List”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schindler's_List

“Sophie’s Choice”: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084707/

Alari ja tütre Saskia näitus “Fotokontakt”: https://dokfoto.ee/programm/alar-ja-saskia-kivilo-fotokontakt/

Socials:

➡️ @estonianmusicweek
https://www.facebook.com/EstonianMusicWeek

➡️ https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

➡️ @eestielu.ca
https://www.facebook.com/eestielu.ca/events

➡️ @vemu.emc
https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

To be a filmmaker, you need to control the wildest variables imaginable, such as extreme weather and explosions, while also making a moving work of art with great sensitivity and attention to detail.

In the newest episode of EstoCast, filmmaking duo Tiiu Loigu and William Shockley are showing us how they achieved that in their latest film, Long Shadows, due for theatrical release on September 26th, 2025.

Come along to San Diego, California, where we’ll hear about:

🌅how country music brought William and Tiiu together

🎥the Hollywood veterans and rising stars bringing this tale of tragedy and redemption to viewers

🌵authentically depicting the design and clothing of the American southwest in the 1880s

🐎and much more!

Things mentioned in this episode include:

-Tiki Tāne Pictures: https://tikitane.com/

-Dermot Mulroney: https://www.instagram.com/dermotmulroney/?hl=en

-Jacqueline Bisset: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000302/

-Sarah Cortez: https://www.instagram.com/sarah_cortez.x/

-Blaine Maye: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8687169/

-WorldFest - Houston International Film Festival https://www.worldfest.org

-Award-winning costume designer Paula Rogers: https://www.instagram.com/paularogerscostumes/

-Country music duo Brooks & Dunn: https://www.brooks-dunn.com/

-Kix Brooks’ song “New To This Town”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04C7sxDKvIg

-Grainger Hines: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0385674/

-Tom Brady, partner at Tiki Tāne Pictures: https://tikitane.com/team_members/tom-brady/

-Old Tucson Studios: https://oldtucson.com/

-Jane Eyre (with Michael Fassbender): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IFsdfk3mlk

-Moulin Rouge! directed by Baz Luhrmann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PpgPxjzbkA

-Composer Tommy Fields: https://tommyfieldsmusic.com/

-Tiff Jensen: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5033994/

-Quiver Distribution: https://www.quiverdistribution.com/

-Champ & Pepper: https://www.champandpepper.com/

-Tiiu Loigu on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiiuloigu/?hl=en

-William Shockley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamshockley/?

Socials:

➡️ @estonianmusicweek
https://www.facebook.com/EstonianMusicWeek

➡️ https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

➡️ @eestielu.ca
https://www.facebook.com/eestielu.ca/events

➡️ @vemu.emc
https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

Torontos käis hiljuti koolijuhtide ja haridustegelaste delegatsioon Eestist. EstoCasti stuudios jagasid mõtteid kohustuslikust kirjandusest Eesti koolides Pelgulinna Riigigümnaasiumi direktor Indrek Lillemägi (töötanud emakeeleõpetajana 4 aastat), Võru Gümnaasiumi õppejuht Annely Hindrikson (töötanud emakeeleõpetajana 16 aastat) ja Narva Eesti Gümnaasiumi juht Irene Käosaar (erialaks eesti keel teise keelena). Vestlust juhtis esmakordselt Toronto ülikooli eesti keele ja kultuuri lektor Kadri Tüür.

Millest räägiti?

✍🏻 Mida õpilased Eesti koolides peavad lugema ja kui palju on õpetajal vabadust loetavate teoste valikul?

✍🏻 Kuidas toimib koostöö teiste lugemist toetavate asutustega (raamatukogud, kirjandusajakirjad, üritused)?

✍🏻 Miks peab raamatuid lugema ja mis on kirjanduse ning lugemise mõte?

✍🏻 Mida õpilased võiksid lugeda ja mida nad ei peaks lugema?

Saates mainiti:

Oskar Luts “Kevade”: https://rahvaraamat.ee/et/raamatud/ilukirjandus/klassika-ja-eeposed/kevade/1234753?isbn=9789949348459

A.H. Tammsaare “Tõde ja õigus”: https://www.digiraamat.ee/product/Tode-ja-oigus-I-146

Andrus Kivirähk “Leiutajateküla Lotte”: https://rahvaraamat.ee/et/raamatud/lasteraamatud/nooremale-koolieale-vanus-7-9/leiutajatekula-lotte/16675?isbn=9789949139361

Aidi Vallik “Pints ja Tutsik”: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15841084-pints-ja-tutsik

Mika Keränen: https://elk.ee/lastekirjandus/kirjanikud/mika-keranen/

Riina Pauklin “Suure Lohe maa. Värava saladus”: https://raamatukodu.ee/suure-lohe-maa-varava-saladus/

Mehis Heinsaar “Härra Pauli kroonikad”: https://www.apollo.ee/harra-pauli-kroonikad.html

Ulmeajakiri “Reaktor”: https://www.ulmeajakiri.ee/?summary

Philip Pullman “Kuldne kompass”: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15980352-kuldne-kompass

Stanisław Rem “Solaris”: https://rahvaraamat.ee/et/raamatud/ilukirjandus/ulme/solaris/803879?isbn=9780571311576

Lauri Räpp: https://www.laurirapp.ee/

Loomingu Raamatukogu: https://www.loominguraamatukogu.ee/

Brigitta Davidjants “Plahvatus nätsuputkas ja teisi jutte”: https://www.loominguraamatukogu.ee/10-11-brigitta-davidjants-plahvatus-natsuputkas-ja-teisi-jutte/

Kairi Look “Tantsi tolm põrandast”: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223872935-tantsi-tolm-p-randast

Socials:

➡️ @estonianmusicweek
https://www.facebook.com/EstonianMusicWeek

➡️ https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

➡️ @eestielu.ca
https://www.facebook.com/eestielu.ca/events

➡️ @vemu.emc
https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

Kirjanikel ja loovatel inimestel üldse on sageli mõni lemmikkoht, kus uusi ideid genereerida. Tuntud ja tunnustatud eesti kirjaniku ja semiootiku Valdur Mikita jaoks on see paik keset metsa, kus saab rahulikult oma mõtetega olla. Sellest, kuidas loodus inspireerib tema kirjatöid ja paljust muust kuuletegi meie uues saates.

Vestlusest saate teada:

📕Raamatuaasta tähistamisest Eestis

📗Sellest, kus on hea raamatuid lugeda

📘Eestlase identiteedist ja selle seosest looduse ning raamatukultuuriga

📙Valdur Mikita 2015. aasta Kanada reisist

Saates mainiti:

Hasso Krulli dissertatsioon “Kosmiline trikster eesti mütoloogias”: https://www.artun.ee/en/hasso-krull/

“Kukeseene kuulamise kunst,” Valdur Mikita: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36946070-kukeseene-kuulamise-kunst-l-nemeresoome-elutunnet-otsimas

Uku Masing: https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uku_Masing

Jaan Kaplinski: https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaan_Kaplinski

Oskar Loorits: https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Loorits

“Vaimu arheoloogia,” Jaak Panksepp: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75509956-vaimu-arheoloogia

Socials:

➡️ @estonianmusicweek
https://www.facebook.com/EstonianMusicWeek

➡️ https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

➡️ @eestielu.ca
https://www.facebook.com/eestielu.ca/events

➡️ @vemu.emc
https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

Countermeasure, a Canadian a cappella band that’s performing at Estonian Music Week in Toronto on May 24th, is keen on defying genre, breaking down the sounds of instruments, and plenty of collaboration, which has resulted in some literally breathtaking music!

In this episode of EstoCast, Elora Burns, a member of this 12-piece group, shares:

🎤 the Estonian linguistic experience that played a role in making choral music a huge part of her life

🎤 their upcoming tour in Japan to promote their new album

🎤 the dopamine rush of coding and being gifted software compilers as a kid

🎤 and much more!

Things mentioned in this episode include:

-Countermeasure on Instagram (including info on their BC tour and upcoming album): https://www.instagram.com/countermeasuremusic/?hl=en

- “Takin’ It Home”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZre5Tu7M14

-Evelyn Glennie: https://www.evelyn.co.uk/

-Sing! the Toronto International Vocal Arts Festival: https://singtoronto.com/

-Estonian Foundation of Canada: https://www.estonianfoundation.ca/

- Itzhak Perlman: https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Itzhak_Perlman

-The 26th Estonian Song Celebration (XXVI laulupidu) 06.07.2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ox72IFFxF4

-the Korora choir family: https://kororachoirs.ca/

-Chris Poole explaining some of the tech used by Countermeasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP8EQFJ8BDE

-"Someone" (featuring Rich Brown): https://open.spotify.com/track/0Yyv6XZRI8pTYszG8ztf18

-"Aubade" featuring Pamelia Stickney on theremin: https://open.spotify.com/track/3QZlGuaKSaqAdsinuLEnGk

-The Spider-Man theme song, performed by Countermeasure and Ron Sexsmith: https://open.spotify.com/track/3FDTWrQxv7NAc3YQ1YRuTx

-cellist Kevin Fox: https://aaronjensen.ca/project/kevin-fox/

-more about the popularity of CDs in Japan: https://hifiauditions.wordpress.com/2025/01/18/cds-are-still-popular-in-japan/#:~:text=Despite%20the%20growth%20of%20streaming,made%20up%20only%20about%2020%25.

-Estonian Voices: https://2025.estonianmusicweek.ca/estonian-voices

-find out more about and get tickets for Estonian Music Week this year!: https://2025.estonianmusicweek.ca/

Socials:

➡️ @estonianmusicweek
https://www.facebook.com/EstonianMusicWeek

➡️ https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca

➡️ @eestielu.ca
https://www.facebook.com/eestielu.ca/events

➡️ @vemu.emc
https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca