Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor
Arvo Pärt: „Missa syllabica“ (16’)
Arvo Pärt: „7 Magnificat – Antiphons“ (11’)
Arvo Pärt: „Magnificat“ (7’)
Arvo Pärt: „The Deer’s Cry“ (5’)
Arvo Pärt: „Dopo la vittoria“ (12’)
Arvo Pärt: : "Kondakion", "Ikos", "Prayer after the Canon" of "Kanon Pokajanen" (16’)
Programme (with Anja Lechner, violoncello):
Johann Sebastian Bach: Motet "Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden“ BWV 230 or
Arvo Pärt: "Magnificat"
Arvo Pärt: "Summa"
Evelin Seppar: “Iris”
Arvo Pärt: "Da pacem Domine"
Arvo Pärt: "Dopo la vittoria"
John Tavener: "Svyati“ for choir and cello
Sergei Rachmaninov: "Bogoroditse Djevo“ from Vesper, Op. 37
Arvo Pärt: Parts from "Kanon pokajanen": Kontakion, Ikos, Prayer after the Canon
Programme 1 (with Kadri Toomoja organ):
ARVO PÄRT
Berliner Messe : Kyrie (3’15) (with organ)
Summa (6’)
Berliner Messe: Veni sancte spiritus (5’) (with organ)
Nunc dimittis (7’)
Berliner Messe: Sanctus (4’) (with organ)
Dopo la vittoria (12’)
Berliner Messe : Agnus Dei (2‘40) (with organ)
***
ARVO PÄRT
Kanon Pokajanen: Kontakion (2’15)
Kanon Pokajanen: Ikos (3’)
Magnificat (7’)
Veni creator (2’30) (with organ)
The Deer’s Cry (5’)
Drei Hirtenkinder aus Fátima (1’30)
Littlemore Tractus (7’30) (with organ)
Kanon Pokajanen: Prayer After the Canon (11’)
Vater unser (3’40) (with organ)
Programme 2:
ARVO PÄRT
Which Was the Son of … (7’)
Magnificat (7’)
Nunc dimittis (7’)
The Deer’s Cry (5’)
Dopo la vittoria (12’)
Kanon Pokajanen: Kontakion (2’15)
Kanon Pokajenen: Ikos (3’)
Kanon Pokajanen: Prayer After the Canon (11’)
Programme 3:
ARVO PÄRT: Kanon Pokajanen
Programme 4:
CYRILLUS KREEK:
„I dreamed“ („Unes nägin“) (2’)
„What’s Your Twitter, My Little Bird“ („Mis sa sirised, sirtsukene“) (2’)
„Listen the Story of Light“ („Kuula valgusest imelist juttu“) (2’)
„Lullaby“ („Hällilaul“) (3’)
„Heath Bell“ („Nõmmelill“) (2’)
„Singer“ („Laulja“) (2’)
„A Harvest Song“ („Sirisege, sirbikesed“) (2’30)
„I went on a Dusky Day“ („Undsel ilmal lätsi ma“) (3’)
„Winter Evening“ („Talvine õhtu“) (2’30)
„Jaan is going to Midsummer Bonfire“ („Jaan läheb jaanitulele“) (3’)
„Our Master“ („Meie err“) (2’)
„Sleep Well, My Little Matthias“ („Maga, maga, Matsikene“) (4’)
***
VELJO TORMIS: Estonian Calendar Songs:
„Swing Songs“ („Kiigelaulud“) (10’)
„Shrovetide Songs“ („Vastlalaulud“) (5’)
„St John’s Day Songs“ („Jaanilaulud“) (15’)
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) has developed into the best-known Estonian music group in the world. The EPCC was founded by Tõnu Kaljuste in 1981, who continued as the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the group for two decades. Paul Hillier was Chief Conductor from 2001 to 2007, Daniel Reuss from 2008 to 2013 and Kaspars Putninš from 2014-2021. Since 2021/22 Tõnu Kaljuste is again Artistic Director and Chief Conductor.
On the occasion of Arvo Pärt's 90th birthday, the choir will be performing Pärt portraits at George Enescu Festival, Lausitz Festival, in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Glasgow, Barbican Centre London, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Carnegie Hall New York and in Dublin in autumn 2025.
In the 2024/25 season the choir toured with A cappella programmes at BBC Proms, Musikfest Bremen, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Prague Spring Festival, in Paris, München, Berlin, at the opera festival in Aix-en-Provence with the BR Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle in the new production of Don Giovanni. The EPCC performed with Concerto Copenhagen in Antwerp, Kloster Knechtsteden and Halle (Saale) and gave concerts with the Symfoniorkest Vlaanderen in France, Belgium and the Netherlands (Paris, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Bruges, Ghent among others). A cooperation with the Helsinki Chamber Choir took place in Tallinn, Viljandi and Helsinki.
The large repertoire of the choir extends from Gregorian chant to late baroque and the music of the 20th century, opera and an ever special focus on the work of Estonian composers as Arvo Pärt, Veljo Tormis, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Galina Grigorjeva, Toivo Tulev, Tõnu Kõrvits and Helena Tulve. Each season the choir gives about 60 to 70 concerts in Estonia and abroad.
The EPCC has performed in major concert venues around the globe as Vienna Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Versailles Opéra Royale, Palau Musica in Barcelona, LSO St. Luke London, Esplanade Signapore, Kennedy Centre Washington, Lincoln Centre and Carnegie Hall New York and Opera House Sydney. Furthermore the choir appeared at numerous festivals including Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Cervantino Festival Mexiko, Edinburgh, Rheingau, Schleswig-Holstein, Stuttgart, Schwetzingen, Mosel, Klangvokal Dortmund, Mozartwoche Salzburg, Osterfestival Tirol Austria, Flanders, Bergen, Oslo, Istanbul, Cheltenham, Tampere, Folle Journées: Nantes and Lissabon, Vale of Glamorgan, Hong Kong, Abu Gosh World Expo Cultural Center Shanghai, Wratislavia Cantans and the Nargen Festival Estonia.
Notable cooperations include appearances with Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Olari Elts, Risto Joost, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Peter Phillips, Gustavo Dudamel, Iván Fischer, Marc Minkowski, Sir Simon Rattle, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Andrew Lawrence-King, Paul McCreesh as well as the London Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Les Musiciens du Louvre, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Mozart Bologna, Stuttgarter Philharmonic, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Norwegian, Australian, Lithuanian, Prague, Basel and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Concerto Copenhagen, Concerto Palatino, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra.
Their considerable discography includes numerous recordings with Tõnu Kaljuste for ECM Records, Ondine Records, Virgin Classics, Carus, harmonia mundi which received highest plaudits including two Grammy Awards and 14 Grammy nominations.
The latest recordings for ECM are the albums Reminiscentiae with music by Veljo Tormis as well as Arvo Pärt: Tractus.
Berlin Classics released the Pärt album Lente with Concerto Copenhagen in May 2025.
BIS Records has released four albums under Kaspars Putniņš including Alfred Schnittke: Concerto for choir, Arvo Pärt: Seven Magnificat Antiphons, Franz Liszt: Via Crucis, Ülo Krigul: Liquid Turnes and Arvo Pärt: Sacred choral works as well as an album with Schnittke: Psalms of Repentance and Pärt: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis which was awarded the Gramophone Award and Diapason d’Or in 2018.
Ondine has featured three albums by Tõnu Korvits with Risto Joost and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra: The Sound of Wings, You are Light and Morning (Sei la luce e il mattino) and Moorland Elegies.
In 2020 BBC Music Magazine has named EPCC as one of the 10 best choirs in the world.
Season 2025/26
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Tõnu Kaljuste | conductor
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 this season he conducts the Orchestra della Toscana and Ensemble Resonanz, tours the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir with a cappella concerts at BBC Proms, Musikfest Bremen, Lausitz Festival, Enescu Festival Bukarest, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra in addition to his numerous activities in Estonia e.g. at Pärt Days of Nargen Festival in Tallinn.
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. Berlin Classics released the album Lente with an Arvo Pärt portrait together with Concerto Copenhagen and the EPCC in May 2025.
Tõnu Kaljuste is a member of the Royal Music Academy of Sweden, recipient of the Japanese ABC Music Award and the Robert Edler Prize.
Season 2025/26
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News/Info
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir & Tonu Kaljuste in Hamburg
On 11 October 2025 Tonu Kaljuste, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Ensemble Resonanz perform an Arvo Pärt programme at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir in Bukarest
Tonu Kaljuste and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir perform an Arvo Pärt programme at George Enescu Festival in Bukarest on 19 September 2025.
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir at Musikfest Bremen
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tonu Kaljuste perform A cappella music by Arvo Pärt and Sergej Rachmaninov at opening of Musikfest Bremen on 16 August 2025.
Tonu Kaljuste & Estnischer Philharmonischer Kammerchor on tour
Tonu Kaljuste and Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir perform in Munich on 16 May 2025, Berlin on 18 May, Prague on 19 May and Dresden on 20 May an Arvo Pärt programme at the occasion of the 90th birthday of the composer.
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir & Tallinn Chamber Orchestra in Dortmund
Tonu Kaljuste conducts the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra in two concerts at Konzerthaus Dortmund on 15 February 2024 with Arvo Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel etc. and on 17 February with A cappella music by J.S. Bach, Arvo Pärt, John Tavener, Sergej Rachmaninov and Evelin Seppar (commission by Konzerthaus Dortmund).
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir at Wratislavia Cantans Festival
Tõnu Kaljuste and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir give two concerts at Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Nowogrodziec on 14 September 2023 and on 15 September in Wroclaw performing the programme Songs of Nature with music by Cyrillus Kreek and Veljo Tormis.
Press
Discography
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra
Maria Listra (soprano)
Tõnu Kaljuste (conductor)
ECM (2023)
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra
Tõnu Kaljuste (conductor)
ECM (2023)
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra
Risto Joost (conductor)
ONDINE (2023)
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Kaspars Putniņš (conductor)
BIS (2022)