Tallinn Chamber Orchestra

The Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, in Estonian the Tallinna Kammerorkester, has been a fixture of the audiophile recordings of music by contemporary Estonian composers released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a> and other labels. The group has often performed and recorded with the <a href="spotify:artist:4xz6NoBwhQYH0TLJU8bn5a">Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir</a> in music by <a href="spotify:artist:2P6ygesd9xg5DPOBnda2jg">Arvo Pärt</a> and other figures in the minimalist style. Yet its repertoire covers a wide range of music and extends back to the Renaissance era.

The Tallinn Chamber Orchestra was founded in April of 1993 by conductor <a href="spotify:artist:4MECrpIPG1u3XtHd2YXbrT">Tõnu Kaljuste</a>, growing out of a Tallinn Conservatory String Orchestra that had been established by Jüri Gerretz four years earlier. <a href="spotify:artist:4MECrpIPG1u3XtHd2YXbrT">Kaljuste</a> was succeeded as conductor by <a href="spotify:artist:5gMz7LgQQAyDNGAVUrMCFB">Juha Kangas</a>, Eri Klas, and, since 2013, <a href="spotify:artist:7xV8TPZuMVqOyWW04ycGKX">Risto Joost</a>. The orchestra's players are drawn from the top ranks of Estonian musicians, and the group has given concerts at its home base, the Tallinn Philharmonic concert hall; around Estonia; at a variety of European festivals; and on tour in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Japan, and China. Guest conductors over the years have included <a href="spotify:artist:51adR4QESc2T8maS27YxWE">Jaakko Kuusisto</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5UHZvYJA0aPcJSLYkYAeps">Neeme Järvi</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2WgYGKKKnmn7t11fcHZnt7">Kristjan Järvi</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2TizFx4bl9T8efWXNuxWor">John Storgårds</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7HSpdA66WWQUOz9ERNCvL1">Pietari Inkinen</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0kdjTXFwhF9w9Cuscbgccu">Richard Tognetti</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Z2JA4BB4ZeXOFWf20uW9Q">Terje Tønnesen</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4EpHVPA3kl6dxqOMgCAvQU">Alexander Rudin</a>, Florian Donderer, and <a href="spotify:artist:6Nl8IBZLyEAhLVYdpAPEYB">Dmitri Sitkovetsky</a>.

Outside Estonia, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra may be best known for its large catalog of high-quality recordings, beginning with its internationally acclaimed reading of <a href="spotify:artist:2P6ygesd9xg5DPOBnda2jg">Pärt</a>'s Te Deum on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a> in 1993. Since then the group has recorded for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Carus%22">Carus</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BIS%22">BIS</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Estonian+Record+Productions%22">Estonian Record Productions</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Classics%22">Warner Classics</a> (in 2014, with <a href="spotify:artist:7LxqmaZTAxTX9j1TYe07rn">Roxanna Panufnik</a>'s Tallinn Mass), and, as of 2017, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ondine%22">Ondine</a>, with a recording of <a href="spotify:artist:1T8je5SrjNbIJKZdxCs5VN">Tõnu Kõrvits</a>' Moorland Elegies. The latter recording, as well as several others from the group's catalog, featured the <a href="spotify:artist:4xz6NoBwhQYH0TLJU8bn5a">Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir</a>. The Tallinn Chamber Orchestra's recorded output has hardly been limited to contemporary music; the ensemble has recorded (again with the <a href="spotify:artist:4xz6NoBwhQYH0TLJU8bn5a">Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir</a>) masses and vespers settings of <a href="spotify:artist:2QOIawHpSlOwXDvSqQ9YJR">Vivaldi</a>, and, for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a> in 2015, music by <a href="spotify:artist:7wi1x9DxLtqnhzJIQa7JQF">Carlo Gesualdo</a> and by modern composers reflecting on his legacy.