Erki Pehk

March 23, 1968, Võru

Estonian conductor Erki Pehk studied piano, choir, and orchestra conducting at the Estonian Academy of Music in Tallinn where he graduated in 1993. He continued his studies in orchestral conducting in Riga at the Latvian Academy of Music. During his studies, he also participated at the Kirill Kondrashin Conductor’s Masterclass in Hilversum, the Netherlands (1990) and attended a Conducting Interpretation Course in Stuttgart with John Eliot Gardiner (1991). In 1997 he finalized his studies as a post-graduate student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

He has also participated in international competitions (1999, 2001) and he was a semifinalist in the International Conductor's Competition in Besançon (France).

From 1994–2011 he was engaged as a conductor at the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn conducting more than 700 performances of this company. He was also invited to teach conducting at the Tallinn Music High School and he held this teaching position from 1992 till 1997. Erki Pehk has furthermore been involved as Music Director at several large scale productions of classics of the musical repertoire with Estonian music theatre company Smithbridge Productions (1998–2008, The King And I, La Cage aux folles, Tanz der Vampire, No, No, Nanette, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Oliver, Mad About You, Georg, Cinderella, Phantom).

In 2000 he founded his own orchestra in Tallinn: the 21st Century Orchestra and he is the principal conductor of this ensemble that performs mostly contemporary but also classic repertoire from Estonian and international composers.

Since 2001 Erki Pehk is the Artistic Director of the renowned Klaudia Taev International Competition for Young Opera Singers in Pärnu (Estonia) and in 2005 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Pärnu International Opera Music Festival PromFest (Rigoletto, Demon, Carmen, Thaïs, Attila, The Tsar’s Bride, Aida, La Traviata).

As an international guest conductor Erki Pehk has collaborated with the State Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre (Republic of Belarus), with Erfurt Theater (Germany), Rennes Opéra and Angers-Nantes Opéra (France), Varna State Opera and Bourgas State Opera (Bulgaria) and Kaunas State Musical Theater (Lithuania). In November 2010 he made his debut in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with the Opera Studio of Netherlands. He also conducted tours of Die Fledermaus and Die Lustige Witwe with International Opera Productions in various theaters in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2011–2012. He has conducted in many other countries like Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Russia, and Ukraine. Most active collaboration has Erki Pehk with the Kaunas State Musical Theatre (since 2011) and with the Ukrainian National Chamber Ensemble Kyiv Soloists (since 2016).

Erki Pehk has collaborated with several renowned musicians: violinist Tatiana Grindenko, countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic, flute player Camilla Hoitenga, soprano Barbara Hendricks, trumpet player, and composer Markus Stockhausen, composer Sofia Gubaidulina, etc.
Erki Pehk was given the Annual Theatre Award 2010 for artistic achievements with this festival PromFest and for the production of Thaïs by Massenet.

Look also: Erki Pehk homepage

He has appeared in concerts and performances with:
Estonia
Estonian National Opera
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra
Symphony Orchestra of Estonian Academy of Music
Võru Symphony Orchestra
Pärnu City Symphony Orchestra
Tartu Vanemuine Music Theatre
The 21st Century Orchestra (including tours to Germany and Luxembourg in 2004)

Other countries
Latvian National Symphony Orchestra
Sinfonietta Rīga (Latvia)
Krasnoyarsk Academic Symphony Orchestra (Russia)
Yaroslavl Academic Symphony Orchestra (Russia)
Moscow Helikon Opera Orchestra
St. Petersburg Youth Symphony orchestra (Russia)
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra (Finland)
Vaasa City Orchestra (Finland)
Kymi Sinfonietta (Finland)
Erfurt Theater (Germany)
Erfurt Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany)
Obuda Danubia Orchestra (Hungary)
Rennes Opéra (France)
Angers-Nantes  Opéra (France)
Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne (France)
Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire (France)
Sinfonia Nord (Iceland)
Burgas State Opera (Bulgaria)
Varna State Opera (Bulgaria)
National Chamber Ensemble Kyiv Soloists (Ukraine)
National Ensemble of Soloists "Kievska Kamerata" (Ukraine)
Kaunas State Musical Theatre (Lithuania)
Kaunas Symphony Orchestra (Lithuania)
Klaipeda State Musical Theatre Orchestra (Lithuania)
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Belarus
State Radio Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Belarus
State Academic Ballet and Opera Bolshoi Theatre of the Republic of Belarus

EMIC 2019