Jüri-Ruut Kangur

May 17, 1975

Jüri-Ruut Kangur has studied choir conducting at Georg Ots Tallinn Music School under the guidance of Hirvo Surva and composition with Lembit Veevo (1991–1994). In 1998, Kangur graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music in choral conducting in the class of Ants Soots, he also studied orchestral conducting with Jüri Alperten and composition with Raimo Kangro.

Jüri-Ruut Kangur has been founder and conductor of several choirs and orchestras – he has been choirmaster of Revalia Boys’ Choir (1994–1996), founder and principal conductor of Haapsalu Music School Music Theatre (1994–1999) and Haapsalu City Orchestra (1996–2004), conductor of Mixed Choir of Estonia Society (1999–2001) and Estonian National Opera Boys' Choir (2000–2002), chief conductor and founder of Nõmme Music School Symphony Orchestra (2003–2014) as well as founder and conductor of Tallinn University Symphony Orchestra (2013–2019).

In addition, he has been the head of NGO ÜENSO since 1997 (earlier Haapsalu Music Theatre and Haapsalu Music Society), teacher and head of choir conducting department of Georg Ots Tallinn Music School (2001–2003) and conductor of the same school’s mixed choir and symphony orchestra (2002–2003). Kangur has also conducted the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Symphony Orchestra, Estonian National Male Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Pärnu City Orchestra, Theatre Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra and international collaborative projects of youth orchestras in Netherlands, Ireland, Turkey, Germany, Norway, France, Brazil and Finland. In 2015, 2017 and 2019, he was guest conductor at the Eurochestries International Festival of Youth Orchestras in France as well as in 2019 in Federal University of Ceará in Sobral, Brazil. He has conducted several stage- and large scale works, and has given lectures at several international conferences.

Jüri-Ruut Kangur has been participant and organiser of several festivals and master courses including string festival "Viiulimängud", founder and organiser of Haapsalu string players' summer courses (1995–2004). He was one of the organisers of Neeme Järvi international conducting masterclass, Pärnu Music Festival and Jarvi Academy during 2009–2017.

With his choirs and orchestras he has participated at numerous festivals in Europe, USA, Brazil and Republic of South Africa. In 2005, Jüri-Ruut Kangur gave masterclasses in the Republic of South Africa, where he also conducted his work Eesti lauliku lugu. He has given conducting masterclasses also in 2019 in the university in Sobral (Brazil) and Eurochestries Festival in France. In 2012, Kangur was the main organiser of the IX European Orchestra Festival in Tallinn.

Jüri-Ruut Kangur is currently chief conductor of Estonian National Youth Symphony Orchestra, which was founded by himself in 1995. He is closely connected to Estonian Song Celebrations – he has been principal conductor of symphony orchestras at X Youth Song Celebration "Ilmapuu lävel" ("On the Doorstep of the World Tree") in 2007, XI Youth Song Celebration "Maa ja ilm" ("The Wide World Begins in a Small Land") in 2011, XXVI General Song Celebration "Aja puudutus. Puudutuse aeg" ("Touched by Time. The Time to Touch") in 2014 and XXVI General Song Celebration "Minu arm" ("My Fatherland is My Love") in 2019.

Jüri-Ruut Kangur has composed vocal-symphonic large-scale works such as Requiem, Magnificat, oratorio Eesti lauliku lugu, parody oratorio Suremata kuulsus Salomon Vesipruul, musicals Joona saatmine and Clowns at Class Trip (Klounid klassiekskursioonil). He has also written several orchestral and choir works. Kangur’s music is versatile and richly melodic, with colorful harmony, frequently minimalistic and meditative by mode of expression. In 2000 Kangur’s work In Paradisum was the winning song at the Estonian Male Song Society's composition competition. His music has been performed in Europe (Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Iceland, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Hungary, Czech, France etc), USA, Canada, Brazil and Republic of South Africa. Kangur has orchestrated nearly 200 works including Marian Koval’s children's opera The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats, Charles Auguste de Bériot’s Scene de Ballet, also children songs and film music.

Jüri-Ruut Kangur is founding member of the Association of Estonian Choral Conductors and member of the board of Estonian Choral Association since 2019. From 2007, he belonged to the European Association of Youth Orchestras and thereafter 2009–2018 to European Orchestra Federation (president since 2019). From 2010–2019, Jüri-Ruut Kangur was the chairman of Estonian Symphony Orchestras Association. Since 2018, he is the vice president of International Federation of Eurochestries. He has compiled and written several books including "Poistekoor Revalia 40" ("Boys’ Choir Revalia 40", 1995), "Haapsalu Muusikateater 1994–1999" ("Haapsalu Music Theatre 1994–1999", 1999), "Haapsalu Linnaorkester 1996–2001" ("Haapsalu City Orchestra 1996–2001", 2001), "Nõmme Muusikakooli Sümfooniaorkester 10" ("Nõmme Music School Symphony Orchestra 10", 2013) and "ÜENSO 20, 1995–2015" (2016).

He has been awarded the Gustav Ernesaks scholarship (1996), the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Music of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2007), Riho Päts scholarship (2009), the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Folk Art of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2012) and the Annual Prize of the Estonian Symphony Orchestras Association (2015). He is the honorary member of the Estonian Symphony Orchestras Association (2019). In 2022, Kangur was given the Order of the White Star 4th Class.

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Updated in Decemebr 2020

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