Andres Paas

b. February 10, 1968 Kuressaare

Andres Paas in renowned chamber musician and known also as an artistic director of Kuressaare Chamber Music Days. He works also as a pedagogue at Georg Ots Tallinn Music School.

Andres Paas graduated from Georg Ots Tallinn Music School on piano under the guidance of Tiiu Loopere in 1988 and from Tallinn State Conservatory (later Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre) with Ada Kuuseoks and Ivari Ilja in 1993. In 1994–1996 Andres Paas continued studies at Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre on organ under the guidance of Ines Maidre and prof. Hugo Lepnurm. In addition Paas has developed his skills at Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest under the guidance of István Csurgay, János Devich and Márta Gulyás.

Andres Paas has worked since 1993 at Georg Ots Tallinn Music School, in 1993–1997 as a concertmaster, after that as a head of the chamber music department and also pedagogue of chamber music and accompaniment class. In 1995–2001 Paas was accompanist of the Estonian National Male Choir.

Andres Paas is an active developer of chamber music, but has also given solo recitals and also performed with symphony orchestras. As an organist, Paas has performed at cathedrals in Budapest, Moscow and Hamburg. He has participated at CD recordings of Estonian National Male Choirs as a pianist and organist. As a chamber musician Andres Paas' repertoire comprise wide range of music from duo sonatas to piano quintets including quintets by Franz Schubert, Béla Bartók, Ernő Dohnány, Dmitri Shostakovich, Antonín Dvořák and César Franck, piano trios by Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn, Sergei Rahmaninov, Anton Arenski, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Bedřich Smetana and Claude Debussy, also piano quartets by Gabriel Faure and Johannes Brahms. Concerts has taken him to Baltic States, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Germany, France, Italy, Israel, USA, Canada ect.

In 1995 Andres Paas founded festival Kuressaare Chamber Music Days and has been since then artistic director of the festival. He has performed at the festival both with classical and untraditional programs. For leading the festival, Andres Paas has given Kuressaare Fine Arts Prize in 1998 and Prize of the Estonian Cultural Endowment „Saaremaa Kultuuripärl“ in 2006. Festival has also released CD „Kuressaare Chamber Music Days 10“ in 2005.

Andres Paas has been an ensemble partner for several Estonian musicians. He plays at ensemble New Baltic Trio with Latvian clarinetist Mārcis Kūlise and cellist Vytautas Sondeckis has given recitals with the ensemble in Baltic states, Hungary (Budapest Spring Festival 2004), Germany (festival Begegnungen am Baltischen Meer), France (culture festival Baltic weeks in Paris) ect. Ensemble has performed works by Estonian composers including Helena Tulve lumineux/opaque and Latvian composer´s Ruta Paidere …Vergesseners Wasser…. In addition Paas has performed as a soloist with Vilnius String Quartet and Ryazan Symphony Orchestra. He performs frequently with Hungarian and Estonian ensemble HonEst Quintette (with violinists Barnabás Kelemen and Péter Somogyi and violists Katalin Kokas and Balázs Tóth). On Kuressaare Chamber Music Days and at Russian concert halls Paas has performed piano quartets with Rustam Komatškov, Julia Igonina, Aleksander Trostjanski, Sergei Poltavski and Stepan Jakovitš. Longtime cooperation has engaged Paas also with cellist Vahur Lutsalu.

 

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