We like working with living composers, see how they think, and find out what they think of us. It enriches us a lot.

We had three rejections, for people from Iran and Turkey. We hoped our festival would connect people. It’s very disappointing that politics can disrupt artistic connections.

Don’t expect to hear Western classical music! This is music that is bright and colorful in instrumentation and harmony, full of the richness and drama of the cultures. It has been very hard to select...

Icebreaker III. We began working on it right after the Baltic one.

The majority of the composers in Icebreaker III are not known outside their region.