As we lurch from disaster to disaster – whether it’s geopolitics, our environment or simply human wellbeing – the need for the healing balm of music seems greater than ever, and this was reflected in Omega Ensemble’s program for its latest concert, Distant World.

Serenity and connection was there from the outset with the sparse beauty of Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror), written in 1978 and one of the last pieces he composed before departing Soviet Estonia. You could feel the audience’s pulse rate slowing in this arrangement featuring pianist Vatche Jambazian and cellist Paul Stender.

Omega Ensemble: Distant World. Photo © Laura Manariti

The piano’s repeated triads, deep anchoring chord and tintinnabulations, while the cello “voice” wanders through the diatonic scale, create a feeling of space and infinity. It is deceptively simple, but difficult to pull off. Both players succeeded in establishing a strong sense of connection, which in turn connects the audience, and this was a deeply satisfying performance.

Pēteris Vasks, although 10 years younger, has a lot in common with Pärt. Both are deeply religious artists who grew up and worked under the Soviet regime,...