Arvo Pärt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvo_P%C3%A4rt

Pärt was born in Paide Järva County Estonia, on 11. September 1935.[1] He was raised by his mother and stepfather in Rakvere in northern Estonia.[2] He began to experiment with the top and bottom notes of the family's piano as the middle register was damaged.[3]

On 10 December 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Pärt a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture for a five-year renewable term.[12]

In 2014 The Daily Telegraph described Pärt as possibly "the world's greatest living composer" and "by a long way, Estonia's most celebrated export". When asked how Estonian he felt his music to be, Pärt replied: "I don't know what is Estonian... I don't think about these things." Unlike many of his fellow Estonian composers, Pärt never found inspiration in the country's national epic, Kalevipoeg, even in his early works. Pärt said, "My Kalevipoeg is Jesus Christ."[8]