Estonia's Arvo Pärt remains world's most-performed living composer
Last year, Estonia's world-famous composer Arvo Pärt was the most-performed contemporary composer in the world once again, according to the classical music website Bachtrack.
Pärt's son Michael, who is also chair of the Arvo Pärt Center, said it is not only the large number of performances around the world in honor of his father's 90th birthday, but also the receptiveness of audiences, that is truly remarkable.
"Its continued presence points to a growing yearning for music with an inner, spiritual depth – music that can speak across cultures and act as a unifying force in an increasingly divided world," said Michael Pärt.
Over the last decade, Arvo Pärt has been a consistent presence among the world's most-performed living composers.
Five of Arvo Pärt's works were among the top ten most-performed pieces in the world last year, with "Fratres," "Da pacem Domine," "Magnificat" and "Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten" the four most frequently performed.
Pärt's choral work "Tribute to Caesar" also made the top ten.
Behind Arvo Pärt in the top five were John Williams, Philip Glass, John Adams and Thomas Adès.
Elsewhere in the rankings, Estonia's Paavo Järvi was listed among the top five busiest conductors in the world last year.
The Arvo Pärt Center regularly collects data on performances of Arvo Pärt's works around the world. Last year, the center recorded 1,130 concerts, and six music festivals dedicated to Arvo Pärt as the great composer celebrated his 90th birthday.
Pärt's work is also at the center of the 2025–2026 season program at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York, while the Leipzig Gewandhaus named him as its composer-in-residence for 2025–2027.
The full report is available on Bachtrack's website here.
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Editor: Michael Cole, Neit-Eerik Nestor
