FA Schola

The Centre of Early and Oriental Music Festivitas Artium. Schola, founded in collaboration between the University of Tartu and Festivitas Artium in January 2000, is a natural development in early music research and study in Tartu. It also helps to promote the work of the ensemble Via Sonora and the tradition of the Tartu Early Music Festival.

As a Greek loan word in Latin, the original meaning of schola was ?spending time in an intelligent conversation', one that was later conflated with the familiar and more modern meanings of 'teaching' and 'erudition'. Festivitas Artium. Schola appreciates both ancient and modern meanings - besides regular studies and teaching activities, the Centre organises many concert projects, enlisting on equal footing both music students and professional musicians from Estonia and elsewhere.

The early music consort FA Schola, working under the auspices of the University of Tartu, focuses primarily on the Oriental and European medieval music. Members of the consort are also active in teaching a variety of instruments. As a centre of study, FA Schola's researches, compares and promotes the traditional European and Oriental medieval cultures as expressed in music.