As the music house in Rakvere is dedicated to world-renowned Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, who wrote around a dozen organ works, the lack of an organ has angered locals. The application for financial support, which was sent to the Riigikogu explicitly stated that the new building would contain an organ.

Mayor of Rakvere Triin Varek said the city has not decided that there will be no organ in the music house, however, more detailed discussions about the organ will take place in the future.

"The local media have exaggerated the matter and presented the information in a biased way. An organ could not be built there right away anyway, because as our people, such as Deputy Mayor Kert Karus and city architect Angeelika Pärna, know, the building has to be well-kept and dust-free before that can happen," Varek said.

However, Varek admitted that a recent trip to Germany to see the local concert halls in Berlin had provided a major shock for Rakvere city leaders.

"We learned that the Berlin Philharmonic also has only six organ concerts a year," Varek said. However, Varek pointed out that an organ was indeed part of the original plan for Rakvere's Arvo Pärt Music House, and preparations for the procurement of one are ongoing.

"Preparing the organ procurement procedure is also a long process," Varek said.

Who should pay for the organ at a later date – the city of the state – remains an open question. According to Varek, the cost of the organ is not included in the funds provided by the state for the construction work.

"The debate on who should pay for the organ is also still ahead. What we do know is that the organ would cost more than €1.5 million – probably €2-3 million. And even though we have our own organ builder, an international tender would have to be organized because we cannot go for direct procurement," Varek said.

The rise in the cost of the centers' construction has also cast a cloud of doubt over the organ.

"We received €21 million from the state, but construction prices and VAT have gone up," the mayor explained, adding that he was currently unable to predict the final cost of construction.

Speaking to ERR, Chair of the Riigikogu's Cultural Affairs Committee Liina Kersna (Reform) said that in May, Margus Allikmaa, head of the Cultural Endowment, gave the committee an overview of the construction of the Ukuaru Music House, which suggested everything is going well so far.

"However, it is true that according to the Cultural Endowment of Estonia Act, only construction and renovation work can be financed, but not the interior. Therefore, the Cultural Endowment cannot financially support the construction of the organ," said Kersna.

According to Kersna, the construction of the organ will be even more expensive than the amount proposed by Varek, and could hit €5 million.

"The Cultural Endowment has estimated that the value of Rakvere's Ukuaru Music House will not be cut down by the absence of an organ. The music house provides a great opportunity for the Rakvere community and I believe the organizers will fill it with good content," said Kersna.

However, Kersna said that the Riigikogu's Cultural Affairs Committee believes that there could still be an organ in Rakvere's Ukuaru Music House in the long run.

New name remains bone of contention

In addition to the issues over the organ, the name of the center, which was changed last fall to Ukuaru, has also met with a backlash from at least one local politician.

Andres Jaadla, a member of the opposition in Rakvere City Council and the citizen-led initiative fighting to keep Arvo Pärt's name in the music house's title, wrote a letter of complaint to both the Culture Capital and the Riigikogu's Cultural Affairs Committee.

In the letter, Jaadla suggested the change of direction regarding a nationally important cultural object in this way could be a considered a violation of the purpose for receiving state funding.

"In essence, there has been a change to the entire concept of a national cultural object, where the national cultural object – the music house named after Arvo Pärt – is being transformed into the Rakvere folk house Ukuaru," Jaadla wrote.

Jaadla said the name change was arranged by the city's mayor, Triin Varek, out of office.

"There is still no clarity as to why the name change was made, on whose initiative or under whose leadership," Jaadala wrote.

According to Liina Kersna, head of the Riigikogu's Cultural Affairs Committee, the name change was in fact due to the wishes of Arvo Pärt's family.

"The name issue was discussed by the Cultural Affairs Committee the Cultural Endowment and Minister of Culture Heidy Purga last fall. It was agreed that if the Pärt family wanted it, there was no reason to oppose that," Kersna said.

According to Kersna, the Pärt family did not want to create any confusion with the Arvo Pärt Center in Laulasmaa and so the name Ukuaru was considered to be well-suited.

In 2021, the Riigikogu adopted a resolution approving the following nationally important cultural buildings: the Tartu Downtown Cultural Center, the Kreenholm Cultural Quarter "Manufaktuur" in Narva, the Arvo Pärt Center in Rakvere, an extension to the current building of the National Opera and Tallinn Film City.

The City of Rakvere signed the main contract for the Ukuaru Music House with the developer in 2023. Construction and reconstruction work is expected to be completed by the end of this year, with the official opening scheduled for January 2026.

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