Concerto Copenhagen, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir & Tõnu Kaljuste
Biography Concerto Copenhagen, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir & Tõnu Kaljuste
Tönu Kaljuste
Hailed by the international press as “charismatic and energetic”, Tõnu Kaljuste is recognized both as a choir and orchestra conductor worldwide. He is a frequent guest conductor of orchestras and chamber choirs worldwide and performed in the major music centres and at renowned festivals worldwide.
In the new season he conducts the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, tours the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir with a cappella concerts in Paris, Munich, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, the European Polyphony Festival Rhodes as well as guest appearances with EPCC and Concerto Copenhagen in Antwerp, Leverkusen and Halle, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra with Bruckner, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra with Britten at Nargen Festival, in addition to his numerous activities in Estonia.
Founder of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tõnu Kaljuste is a staunch ally and committed advocate for the work of Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Veljo Tormis and Heino Eller. He has collaborated closely with great composers of modernism in Northern and Eastern Europe such as Alfred Schnittke, György Kurtag, Krzysztof Penderecki and Giya Kancheli.
Since 2021/22 Tõnu Kaljuste is again Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the EPCC. From 2019 to 2024 he held the position of Artistic Director of the Tallinn Philharmonic Society and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. Kaljuste has been Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Choir and is Conductor Laureate of the Swedish Radio Choir since 2019.
Since 2004 Tõnu Kaljuste has been Artistic Director of Nargen Opera in Estonia featuring the Nargen Festival with music and opera productions, concerts and exhibitions during the summer. The festival is preceded by the Cyrillus Kreek Days in June and followed by the Arvo Pärt Days in September. He collaborates also closely with the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm. A highlight of the 2023 edition will be the performance of Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony with the Estonian National Symphony.
Numerous recordings of Kaljuste’s extensive discography for ECM Records, BIS, Caprice Records and Virgin Classics were nominated for the Grammy in various categories and have also other awards such as Cannes Classical Award, Diapason d’Or, Edison Prize and Classic Brit Award. For the Arvo Pärt album Adam’s Lament the Estonian conductor was awarded the Grammy Award 2014 in the category ‘Best Choir Performance’. In 2019 Tõnu Kaljuste won the ICMA Award for the album of Arvo Pärt’s Symphonies No. 1-4 with the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2023 ECM released the album Reminiscentiae with music by Veljo Tormis as well as the album Arvo Pärt: Tractus.
Tõnu Kaljuste is a member of the Royal Music Academy of Sweden, recipient of the Japanese ABC Music Award and the Robert Edler Prize.
