Kerri Kotta

b. October 29, 1969, Tallinn
Member of the Estonian Composers' Union since 2000

One of the most engaging aspects regarding the compositions of Kerri Kotta is the fine-tuned and synthesis-oriented “stylistic plurality”. In Kotta’s music, jazz and minimalism meet grandiose Bach-like rhetoric and a high-strung and fragmented, modernist approach to sound. This, in most cases, does not entail dramatic contrasts of styles. Kotta joins together different approaches in a playful and delicately humorous manner.

Kerri Kotta studied music theory at the Tallinn Music High School and graduated from the Tallinn Conservatoire in composition as a student of Jaan Rääts in 1993. In 1997, Kotta obtained a master's degree in composition with Lepo Sumera in Estonian Academy of Music and PhD in musicology (supervisor Mart Humal) in 2004. He has taken part in courses of composition and music analysis in Schwaz, Stuttgart and Cracow. Kotta taught music theory at the Tallinn University from 1994–2008. Since 1998 he teaches at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (Associate Professor from 2005, Professor from 2015). From 2005 Kerri Kotta is a member of the board and, from 2013, the chairman of the board of the Estonian Musicological Society. He is also a chairman of Estonian Arnold Schoenberg Society since 2012 and works as a managing director of the International Eduard Tubin Society since 2014 and chairman since 2015.

Kerri Kotta’s works have been performed by Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, NYYD Ensemble, double bass player Mati Lukk, organist Aare-Paul Lattik, pianist Mati Mikalai and others. His music has been presented at the international new music festival Nyyd, Estonian Music Days Festival and at festivals in Austria and Poland. In 1997, Kerri Kotta’s Col legno for violin and orchestra got the 4th prize in the competition for instrumental concerts organized by Estonian Cultural Endowment.

As a musicologist, Kerri Kotta focuses on a research on relations between musical form, pitch structure and rhythm. In Estonian music, he has studied the tonal structure of works of Erkki-Sven Tüür. Kotta has also published reviews and articles in Estonian culture magazine Teater. Muusika. Kino and music magazine Muusika as well as cultural weekly “Sirp”.

Look also: Estonian Research Information System

© EMIC 2007
(updated in October 2017)

The texts on the EMIC's homepage are protected by the copyright law. They can be used for non-commercial purposes referring to the author (when specified) and source (Estonian Music Information Centre).