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Orchestra

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BIOGRAPHY
ORCHESTRA
CHIEF CONDUCTORS 
  • Tõnu Kaljuste
  • Juha Kangas
  • Risto Joost

Orchestra

Tõnu Kaljuste was the orchestra’s first chief conductor in 1993–1995, 1996–2001 and 2019-2024. Juha Kangas collaborated with the orchestra as the chief conductor in 1995–1996 and an artistic adviser in 2001–2003. The following decade was curated by Tallinn Philharmonic Society’s artistic director Eri Klas. In 2013–2019 the chief conductor of TCO was Risto Joost. 

Biography

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra (TCO) was founded in 1993 by conductor Tõnu Kaljuste. During the past three decades it has become one of Estonia’s signature orchestras and a welcome guest performer on numerous stages in Europe and all over the world.
 
TCO has gained recognition for its artistically integral programmes, style-sensitive play and mastery of interpretation.

The diverse repertoire of the orchestra includes music from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic era; an important part is also held by the musical works of the composers of 20th and 21st century, including less known pieces and premieres.

TCO’s musicians are highly rated string players, who also regularly perform as soloists and chamber musicians.

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra has a long-standing cooperation with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir – joint performances and recordings have gained international fame and recognition for both parties.

In 1993, conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste they recorded Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum for the ECM record company. The record earned high ratings from the world’s leading music critics and remained for months in the top ten of record sales. Under the label of ECM, numerous other records have been released, such as Arvo Pärt’s Litany, In Principio and Adam’s Lament; also Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Crystallisatioand Heino Eller’s Neenia.

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra has also recorded music for Warner Music / Finlandia Records, Carus Verlad, Ondine etc. In 2014, the orchestra released a record with Joseph Haydn’s work (soloist Silver Ainomäe, conductor Risto Joost).

In 2017, the record company Ondine released Tõnu Kõrvits’s CD Lageda laulud (Moorland Elegies) where the music was performed by Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra – the record was awarded the Classics Album of the Year at Estonian Music Awards 2018.

Tõnu Kaljuste was the orchestra’s first chief conductor in 1993–1995 and 1996–2001. Juha Kangas collaborated with the orchestra as the chief conductor in 1995–1996 and an artistic adviser in 2001–2003. The following decade was curated by Tallinn Philharmonic Society’s artistic director Eri Klas. In 2013–2019 the chief conductor of TCO was Risto Joost. The season of 2019/2020 welcomes Tõnu Kaljuste as the chief conductor again.
 
As guest conductors, the following highly rated professionals have collaborated with TCO: John Storgårds, Pietari Inkinen, Okko Kamu, Jaakko Kuusisto, Richard Tognetti, Terje Tonnesen, Daniel Raiskin, Alexander Rudin, Florian Donderer, Dmitri Sitkovetski, Kolja Blacher, Pe- ter Spissky, Maxim Rysanov, Andrew-Lawrence King, Dmitri Sinkovski; also, acknowledged Estonian conductors like Olari Elts, Paul Mägi, Arvo Volmer, Neeme Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, Vello Pähn, Jüri Alperten, Mihkel Kütson, Anu Tali, Mihhail Gerts, Kristiina Poska and many others.
 
TCO has performed in many prestigious music festivals such as festival of Bach’s cantatas in Milan (Italy, 1996, 1997); Musikfest Bremen (Germany, 1998); MITO SettembreMusica (Milan/Turin, 2004, 2007, 2017), the Budapest Autumn Festival (2005), Kaustinen Chamber Music Week (Finland, 2005); Festival Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (Italy, 2007), Musiikkia! (Finland, 2012); Festival Cervantino (Mexico, 2012), Vale of Glamorgan Festival (Wales, 2015), MDR Musiksommer (Germany 2017); Euphonie (Poland, 2018) etc.
 
Concert tours have taken the orchestra to the USA, Canada, Japan, China, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and most European countries. Next to the famous concert halls in Europe, TCO has also performed in Carnegie Hall, New York City and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing.
 
In 2013, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra received the Estonia Music Council’s Prize for Interpretation. TCO is one of performers on Arvo Pärt’s record Adam’s Lament for which the conductor Tõnu Kaljuste received Grammy in 2014.

I VIOLIN

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HARRY TRAKSMANN 

Leader of the TCO

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ROBERT TRAKSMANN 

Leader of the TCO

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OLGA VORONOVA 

Associated principal of the TCO

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HELEN VÄSTRIK

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YANA MÄGILA

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FRED HEINOJA

KATRIN MATVEUS

II VIOLIN

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ELO TEPP 

Principal

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MARI TARGO

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ANETE AINSAAR

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EVA-MARIA SUMERA

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EVA-MAARJA FORSLUND

VIOLA

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LAUR EENSALU 

Principal

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JOOSEP AHUN

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MART KUUSMA

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MERIKE HEIDELBERG

HELEN LING 

On parental leave

CELLO

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LEHO KARIN 

Principal

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SILUAN HIRVOJA

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ANDRES ALEXANDER METSPALU

DOUBLE BASS

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ANDRES KUNGLA 

Principal

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MICHELE BONFANTE

Tõnu Kaljuste

Tõnu Kaljuste is internationally recognised both as a choir and orchestra conductor. His accomplishments that will go into history include winning the Grammy Award in 2014 in the category of Best Choir Performance for Adam's Lament by Arvo Pärt. His recordings have been repeatedly nominated for Grammy Awards. What makes this unique is the fact that Kaljuste’s albums have been featured in various categories. His Grammy nominations include David and Bathsheba, an opera by the Norwegian composer Ståle Kleiberg, as well as a range of symphonic music.

 

In 2019 Kaljuste won the International Classical Music Award with the Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra for the recording of Arvo Pärt’s Symphonies No. 1 to 4. Kaljuste has collaborated with recording studios ECM Records, Virgin Classic, BIS and Caprice Records. His records have also won several other awards: Cannes Classical Award (1999), Diapason d’Or (2000), Edison Prize (2000) and the Classic Brit Award (2003).

 

2010-2020 Tõnu Kaljuste was a professor and Head of Conducting Studies at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. He is founder of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and has been chief conductor of the Swedish Radio Choir and the Netherlands Chamber Choir. Among others, Kaljuste has collaborated with the great figures of modernism in Northern and Eastern Europe such as Alfred Schnittke, György Kurtág, Krzysztof Penderecki, Giya Kancheli and Einojuhani Rautavaara, and has proved to be an outstanding expert and introducer of Estonian composers Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Veljo Tormis and Heino Eller.

 

Since 2004, Kaljuste has been the artistic director of Nargen Opera, his own project theatre. At Kaljuste’s initiative, Nargenfestival has been held since 2006. The festival takes place every summer, featuring drama and music theatre productions, concerts and exhibitions. The festival is preceded by the Cyrillus Kreek Days in June and followed by the Arvo Pärt Days in September. Kaljuste works closely with the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm.

 

In 2019, the Swedish Radio Choir and Berwaldhallen awarded Tõnu Kaljuste the honorary title of Conductor Laureate of the Swedish Radio Choir. Tõnu Kaljuste is the artistic director (from September 2019) of Tallinn Philharmonic Society and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra.

Juha Kangas, peadirigent 1995-1996

The sound of the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra has been influenced by conductor Juha Kangas, whom Tõnu Kaljuste invited to work with the orchestra. Kangas was the chief conductor from 1995 to 1996 and an artistic advisor from 2001 to 2003. Even now joint concerts are in program every season.

Juha Kangas is consistent in his work and expectations. He has a very clear vision of the sound the orchestra should attain. As the chief conductor, he varied the repertoire to encourage the orchestra to learn the playing techniques of different eras and to find diverse timbres and modes of expression. In the beginning, the cooperation was difficult and the work cycle rather tense as Juha Kangas was very demanding and the newly created orchestra could not implement his wishes fast enough. Yet, many years later, pianist and conductor Ralf Gothóni said he could feel that Juha Kangas had put considerable effort into this orchestra.

Risto Joost, peadirigent 2013-2019

Risto Joost becoming the chief conductor of the orchestra in 2013 was a long-awaited event for an orchestra that had operated without a chief conductor for the past ten seasons. Upon taking office, Joost focused on making the chamber orchestra’s concert seasons distinctive, exciting for the audience and developmental for the orchestra. During this period, the orchestra grew to a full-sized orchestra.

Both the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and Risto Joost have often been described as energetic. Risto Joost is characterised by brilliant creative ideas, good taste, a tireless work ethic and being demanding towards himself and his colleagues. He is also well-known for commissioning new compositions from  and interpreting the works of Estonian composers. It was his initiative to commission a three-part cycle from Tõnu Kõrvits for the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. This led to the creation and recording of three great works: “Moorland Elegies”, “You are Light and Morning” and “The Sound of Wings”.

The concert series “Omnipotent” was born, in which the concerts experimented with both the

programme and the forms of performance. Works such as John Cage’s “4’33” and “Water Walk”, Schönberg’s “Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte”, Steve Reich’s “Clapping Music”, George Crumb’s “Black Angels”, as well as the new works by Kristjan Kõrver and Ülo Krigul were performed.

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