Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) is one of the best-known Estonian ensembles in the world. The EPCC was founded in 1981 by Tõnu Kaljuste, who was its artistic director for twenty years. In 2001-2007, the artistic director and chief conductor was Paul Hillier, in 2008-2013 Daniel Reuss, in 2014-2021 Kaspars Putniņš and since August 2021 Tõnu Kaljuste has again taken on the baton as chief conductor and artistic director of the EPCC.

The repertoire of the choir extends from Gregorian chant to the music of the 21 st century, with a special focus on the work of Estonian composers, such as Arvo Pärt, Veljo Tormis, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Galina Grigorjeva, Toivo Tulev, Tõnu Kõrvits and Helena Tulve, among others. The EPCC has collaborated with a number of outstanding conductors including Claudio Abbado, Eric Ericson, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Nikolai Alexeev, Olari Elts, Stephen Layton, Sir Colin Davis, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Gustavo Dudamel and many more. The choir has been a welcome guest at outstanding venues and numerous music festivals all over the world, including the BBC Proms, the Mozartwoche, Abu Gosh Music Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Moscow Easter Festival, Musikfest Bremen, Salzburg Festspiele, Edinburgh International Festival, Festival Aix-en-Provence, Vale of Glamorgan Festival, Bergen International Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and many more.

Another important aspect in the choir’s work is recording music, resulting in various award-winning albums. EPCC recordings have twice won the Grammy for Best Choral Performance: for the album of Arvo Pärt’s Da Pacem with conductor Paul Hillier and Arvo Pärt’s Adam’s Lament with conductor Tõnu Kaljuste. All in all, the choir has 15 Grammy nominations. EPCC recordings have also won the Diapason d’Or, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Danish Music Award, and more. In 2020, BBC Music Magazine has named EPCC as one of the 10 best choirs in the world.

Source: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

EMIC 2010
(täiendatud märtsis 2022)