Arvo Pärt is the world’s most performed living composer eighth year running
The Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt, has, for the eighth year in a row, been given the title of the “world’s most performed living composer” by the classical music event database, Bachtrack.
by Silver Tambur
Bachtrack calculates a series of statistics each year that show the number of times the work of each composer has been performed, along with information regarding the “hardest-working” conductors, orchestras and most performed individual works.
Most performed contemporary composers by ranking
46. Arvo Pärt
52. John Williams
81. Jörg Widmann
82. Sir James MacMillan
85. Philip Glass
The most performed composer overall in 2018 was Beethoven, followed by Mozart, Bernstein, Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Schumann and Handel.
Arvo Pärt was born in 1935 in Paide, Estonia. In 2018, a new centre, introducing Pärt’s creative heritage to both domestic and international visitors, opened its doors in Laulasmaa, Estonia.
Cover: Arvo Pärt (photo by Birgit Püve)