Aida Street — five minutes from Ohtu.
A working concert hall, not a tourist one
A short walk past Vallikäär park stands Pärnu concert hall — a calm, modern building from 2002 that does not try to compete with the old town around it, and somehow fits anyway. Inside: Cafe Cello, the resident Pärnu City Orchestra, and the Pärnu Music School.
July: the Pärnu Music Festival
The Pärnu Music Festival — founded by the Järvi family, Estonia best-known dynasty of conductors — fills the hall with the Estonian Festival Orchestra and world-class soloists. For eleven days, one of Europe more serious classical music gatherings happens a few minutes walk from a quiet street that, the rest of the year, nobody outside Pärnu has heard of.
Arvo Part
Estonia most celebrated living composer. His music is spare and slow, built from a technique he calls tintinnabuli — somewhere between a bell and a held breath. If his name appears on a poster during your stay, it might be worth changing your plans.