Jüri Leiten

b. March 19, 1965, Kiviõli

Jüri Leiten began trumpet studies at the Kiviõli Music School under the guidance of Jaan Linde. In 1979–1983, he continued studies on trumpet at the Tallinn Music High School with Aavo Ots and in 1983–1987 at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire with Jury Bolshiyanov.

As a professional trumpet player, Jüri Leiten began his career at brass band Tallinn in 1980. In 1981, Leiten played also at the Estonian National Opera Orchestra. In 1982 Leiten was trumpet player at the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, where he continued in 1987–1991 and 1996–1999 (also as a concertmaster). In 1997, he won the 1st Prize at the Republican Woodwind Players Contest.
Jüri Leiten has worked as a vice director (1994–1999) and director (1999–2010) of the Tallinn Philharmonic Society. Leiten has established several music collectives as Tallinn Brass (1994), where he was also a trumpet player and artistic director, and in 1998 the Estonian Dream Big Band, where he was a trumpet player and a conductor. In addition, he has cooperated with Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Hortus Musicus Academic Orchestra, Lithuanian and Latvian chamber orchestras. Since 1991, Leiten has played in dance orchestra Modern Fox.

As a versatile musician, Leiten has belonged to several ensembles. Since 1988, he has had a close collaboration with organist Adres Uibo, performing with him at numerous concerts and recording three CD-s (Estonian Organ Music 2 (1994), Festliche Barockmusik (1994), Classic over-tour (2003)). Many of Estonian composers have dedicated their works to the duo: Erkki-Sven Tüür, Urmas Sisask, Jaan Rääts and Ester Mägi. Leiten has collaborated with several Estonian musicians as Andres Mustonen, Kalle Randalu, Ivo Sillamaa and Lea Leiten. He has performed in Scandinavia and other European countries, as well as in Canada, USA and Japan. He has participated at festivals as Philip Jones festival (Barcs, Ungari, 1988), Imatra Bigbands’ Festival (1990, Finland), Latvian International Organ Festival (1995), festival Lieksa Brass Week (1996, Finland), festival Urkuyö ja Aaria (1998, Finland), and Tokyo International Organ Festival (1997, Japan). Jüri Leiten has been one of the organizers of Võru Brass Music Days (1994–2000) and Birgitta Festival (2005–2010). He has been a member of the Estonian Music Council Board (2003–2010). Since 2010, Jüri Leiten is the director of the Estonian state concert agency Eesti Kontsert (Estonian Concert).

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