Urmas Vulp

b. June 16, 1954 Tallinn
Member of Estonian String Teachers Association since 1996
Member of International Eduard Tubin Society

Urmas Vulp is mostly active as a chamber musician and an ardent champion of Estonian music.

Urmas Vulp graduated as a violinist from Tallinn Music High School in 1972 with Ivi Tivik and from Tallinn State Conservatory in 1977 with Vladimir Alumäe. In 1977–1981 he was a postgraduate student at Moscow Conservatory with Yevgenia Tchugayeva. In 1975, he won the 2nd prize at the contest of Estonian string players in Tallinn.

Since 1981 Vulp is a teacher at the Estonian Academy of Music and from 1995 to 2000 he was the head of the string department. His students have been Tarmo Adson, Kaido Välja, Marge Venkov, Marge Uus, Hanna Liis Nahkur, Meelis Orgse and others. He is the artistic leader of the International Heino Eller String Competition.

Urmas Vulp has performed as a soloist in USA, Canada, Germany, France, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Latvia and Lithuania. His most frequent partners in a chamber duet have been pianists Heljo Sepp, Lille Randma, Tõnu Rein, Rein Mets, Marje Lohuaru, Vardo Rumessen, flutist Janika Lentsius and others. Long time collaborator of Vulp has been guitarist Heikki Mätlik. They have performed more than ten years in all over Europe, Scandinavia and Canada. Many Estonian composers like Ester Mägi, René Eespere, Kaljo Raid, Jaan Rääts, Peeter Vähi, Mati Kuulberg have written music for the duo.

Urmas Vulp is one of the founders of the Tallinn String Quartet (founded in 1984), its director and first violinist (other members are Toomas Nestor, Olga Voronova and Henry-David Varema). On Vulp’s initiative the quartet has successfully recorded 5 CD’s and introduced Estonian string music outside Estonia (Denmark, Israel, Switzerland, Portugal and elsewhere) by performing works of Rudolf Tobias, Heino Eller, Eduard Tubin, Arvo Pärt, Toivo Tulev, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Kaljo Raid and others. The quartet has taken part of many important festivals like Sound Pressure (Toronto 1990), Chamber Music Winter (Pori Finland, 1992), the Chamber Music Festival of Södertälje (Sweden), a concert series in Baltic season In Paris and the Estonian Culture Days in Germany and Japan.

In a duet with pianist Vardo Rumessen, a CD of Estonian violin music was released (Eres, 1997). The CD includes works by Heino Eller, Eduard Tubin, Eugen Kapp, Ester Mägi, Artur Lemba and Arvo Pärt. Equally important and substantial is the CD Cantus with Heikki Mätlik (by Finlandia Records, in 1998), that contains works of Estonian composers Erkki-Sven Tüür, René Eespere, Ester Mägi and Raimo Kangro. Other important CD’s recorded with Heiki Mätlik are One Century of Estonian Violin Music released in 2005 and Northern lights in music released in 2007. He has also recorded Estonian music for the Estonian Radio and Television.

In 2003, Urmas Vulp was awarded the Heino Eller Music Prize for the activities of Tallinn String Quartet and for organizing the International Heino Eller contest for violinists and in 2009, the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Music of Cultural Endowment of Estonia for the promotion of Estonian string music.

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