Program and Artist Biography

Erkki-Sven Tüür began his musical career in the late 1970s leading a progressive rock band, influenced by the music of King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Mike Oldfield, Frank Zappa, Yes and Genesis. In the latter half of the 1980s he started working as a professional composer in his native Estonia.

Instrumental music makes up the main body of Tüür's work. He has written eight symphonies, several instrumental concertos, a considerable amount of chamber music and an opera.  He uses a broad spectrum of compositional techniques, and has been interested in Gregorian chant and minimalism, linear polyphony and microtonality, twelve-tone music and sound-field technique.

Erkki-Sven Tüür studied percussion and flute at Tallinn Georg Ots Music High School (1976-1980) and composition with Prof. Jaan Rääts at the Tallinn Conservatoire (1980-1984). He also took private lessons from Prof. Lepo Sumera in Tallinn and trained in electronic music in Karlsruhe.

Tüür's favourite compositional medium to compose for is the symphony orchestra; his works have been performed all over the world and among others by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, NDR Sinfonieorchester, Chicago Symphony Orchestra,  Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra etc.

His music has been performed in renowned halls such as the Wiener Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, Berliner Philharmonie, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Royal Albert Hall in London, Carnegie  Hall in New York, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Sydney Opera Concert Hall etc.

Tüür is one of the artistic directors of the International New Music Festival NYYD and an honorary doctor of the Estonian Academy of Music. He has received the annual Estonian Music Prize (1987, 1988), Estonian Culture Prize (1997), Baltic Assembly Culture Prize (1998), Great Bear Prize (1996, 1997), Second Class Order of the White Star (2000), Annual Prize of the Estonian Music Council (2003) and has twice been awarded the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Music of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Erkki-Sven Tüür's works are published by Edition Peters. Recordings of Tüür's music have been released by ECM, Virgin, Teldec, BIS, Erdenklang, Ondine etc.

www.erkkisven.com

New Tallinn Trio has re-popularized the genre of piano trio in Estonia and beside the works of 18th and 19th century it has began to deal with widening the repertoire. As the chamber ensemble consists of renowned contemporary music players, the ensemble has commissioned a number of new piano trios from Estonian composers over the years, premiered those works and recorded them.

New Tallinn Trio was founded in 1997 by three outstanding young generation musicians. The trio involves pianist Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann, violinist Harry Traksmann and cellist Kaido Kelder.

New Tallinn Trio performs regularly in Estonian concert halls and has recorded music for Estonian Public Broadcasting (both for radio and television). Concert tours have taken the trio to Kaustis and Aland chamber music festivals in Finland, Usedom Music Festival in Germany and to Culturescapes festival in Switzerland. In 2001, New Tallinn Trio represented Estonia in the concert series Upbeat / Nordic Talents introducing Scandinavian and Baltic young musicians, performing in Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden and Norway. In 2007, the trio gave a concert at first Fenno-Ugrian Culture Days in Vienna Musikverein Glass Hall. Additionally the trio has performed in UK, Russia, France, Italy and Czech Republic.

New Tallinn Trio has won Estonian contest for young musicians Con Brio (1998), the diploma at Kuhmo International Trio Competition in Finland (1999) and 2nd prize at 2nd Gdańsk International Johannes Brahms Chamber Music Competition in Poland (2000).

In 2000, New Tallinn Trio was given the Annual Award of endowment for music of Estonian Cultural Endowment and in 2007 New Tallinn Trio was awarded as a  „Performer of the Year"  and also nominated for National Culture Award for its creative achievements.