Sten Lassmann

b. May 26, 1982 Tallinn
Member of the Association of Estonian Professional Musicians since 2005
Member of the International Eduard Tubin Society since 2006

Sten Lassmann is one of the most outstanding pianists in Estonia, who has received favorable attention both at home and abroad. He has successfully given solo recitals and chamber concerts and soloed with many orchestras. Sten Lassmann has performed at prestigious concert venues such as the Moscow Conservatory Hall, the Purcell Room in London, the Giuseppe Verdi Hall in Milan, the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing.

Sten Lassmann studied at the Tallinn Music High School, where his teachers were Ell Saviauk, Ira Floss and Ivari Ilja. He continued his piano studies with Prof. Ivari Ilja at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT) and with Prof. Ian Fountain at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He further developed his skills/also studied at the Paris Conservatory under the guidance of Prof. Brigitte Engerer and has participated in the master classes of many well-known musicians, including Boris Berman, Konstantin Lifschitz, Michael Roll, Alexander Satz, Howard Shelley and Maxim Vengerov.

In addition to 1st prize at the 6th Estonian Piano Competition in Tallinn (2002), Sten Lassmann has also won prizes in several international competitions. He has performed as a soloist with many esteemed conductors such as Jüri Alperten, Nikolai Alexeev, Paul Mägi, Risto Joost, Mihhail Gerts, Mikk Murdvee, Tõnu Kaljuste, Toomas Kapten, Vello Pähn, Toomas Vavilov, Mikk Üleoja, Arvo Volmer, Lauri Sirp, Valle-Rasmus Roots and Olari Elts. Sten Lassmann is also a dedicated chamber musician whose partners in recent years include violinists Stanislav Pronin, Pavel Berman, Natalia Lomeiko, Mikk Murdvee, Katariina Maria Kits, Robert Traksmann, Triin Ruubel, Movses Pogossian and Anna-Liisa Bezrodny, soprano Arete Kerge, mezzo-sopranos Karis Trass and Maarja Purga, bass Pavlo Balakin and cellist Valle-Rasmus Roots.

Since 2008, Sten Lassmann has been involved in performing, recording, researching and introducing Estonian composer Heino Eller’s piano works and has recorded all of Eller’s piano music – all together 206 works. Eller’s piano music was the basis of Lassmann’s doctoral dissertation at the Royal Academy of Music in London (PhD in Performing Practice, 2013) and since 2011 he has been releasing a nine-CD series Heino Eller – Complete Piano Music in London in collaboration with Toccata Classics in London, of which the last ninth CD was released in August 2023. At present he is writing a monograph about Eller’s piano music, which will be published by EAMT in 2024. Sten Lassmann is a senior piano lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Interpretation Department and the artistic director of the Estonian Concert International Festival PIANO. In addition, he is a member of the board of the Estonian Piano Teachers’ Association, the Creative Council of the State Concert Institute Eesti Kontsert and is the founder of Heino Eller Foundation with conductor Olari Elts, a founding member of the Estonian Pianists Association with pianist Mihkel Poll and the vice-chairman of the Association of Estonian Professional Musicians.

Sten Lassmann is a laureate of the 14th Heino Eller Music Prize (2011), he has awarded the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Music of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2015, 2021) and was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Music in London (ARAM) in 2018.


In Sten Lassmann's performance, one can find a paradox – his economic, rational and well-disciplined style is fulfilled with sudden power of expression. Estonian piano music has got another interesting personality.
Evi Arujärv. A Pianist out of the cocoon. – Postimees, September 25, 2004

© EMIC 2008
(updated in August 2023)

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