Artistic Director and Chief Conductor: Tõnu Kaljuste

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) is one of the best-known Estonian music ensembles in the world. The choir was founded in 1981 by Tõnu Kaljuste, who continued on as its artistic director and chief conductor for twenty years. From 2001–2007, the English musician Paul Hillier directed the choir. Daniel Reuss took over as chief conductor from 2008–2013 followed by Kaspars Putniņš from 2014–2021. Tõnu Kaljuste returned in 2021 and continues to operate as artistic director and chief conductor. The repertoire of the choir extends from Gregorian chant through baroque all the way to the music of the 21st century. The choir especially focuses on introducing the work of Estonian composers, such as Arvo Pärt, Veljo Tormis, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Galina Grigorjeva, Toivo Tulev, and Tõnu Kõrvits to the world. Each season the choir gives about 60–70 concerts both in Estonia and abroad. The EPCC has collaborated with a number of outstanding conductors including Claudio Abbado, Helmuth Rilling, Eric Ericson, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Roland Böer, Frieder Bernius, Stephen Layton, Peter Phillips, Marc Minkowski, Christoph Poppen, Sir Colin Davis, Louis Langree, Paul McCreesh, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Gustavo Dudamel, and Richard Tognetti. The EPCC has also worked with world-class orchestras such as the Norwegian, Australian, Prague and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Berlin Rundfunk Orchestra, Concerto Copenhagen, the Salzburg Camerata, Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble, the Philip Glass Ensemble, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Korean Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. The EPCC has been a welcome guest at music festivals and outstanding venues all over the world:, for instance at the BBC Proms, the Mozartwoche, the Abu Gosh Music Festival, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Musikfest Bremen, the Salzburg Festspiele, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Festival Aix-en-Provence, the International Cervantino Festival, the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Sydney Opera House, Wiener Konzerthaus, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Barbican Centre in London, the Flagey Concert Hall in Brussels, the Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore, the Soul Arts Center, the Hong Kong City Hall, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Kennedy Center in Washington, Carnegie Hall in New York, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, among others. Another important aspect of the choir’s life is recording music often resulting in award-winning CDs. EPPC has recorded with ECM, Virgin Classics, Carus, Harmonia Mundi, and Ondine. EPCC recordings have won two GRAMMY-Awards for Best Choral Performance: for the album Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem with conductor Paul Hillier (Harmonia Mundi, 2007) and Arvo Pärt:. Adam’s Lament with conductor Tõnu Kaljuste (ECM, 2014). All in all, the choir has 16 Grammy nominations for works by Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, and the music of Nordic countries. The EPCC recordings have also earned the Gramophone Award, Diapason d’Or, and Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. In 2020 BBC Music Magazine named the EPCC as one of the 10 best choirs in the world.