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Estonian National Symphony Orchestra named Olari Elts as its next Music Director and Chief Conductor

General Manager of the ENSO Kristjan Hallik and Olari Elts. Photo by ENSO

The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra has announced Olari Elts as the Music Director and Chief Conductor from the season 2020/2021. The current Chief Conductor Neeme Järvi will continue to work with ENSO as the Honorary Conductor for Life.

Olari Elts is a conductor with a wide international reach, whose passion for putting together and conducting unique and exciting concert programmes has earned him worldwide recognition. He frequently performs with renowned orchestras around the world, such as Finnish Radio Symphony, Danish National Symphony, BBC Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. In addition to the classical and romantic repertoire, Elts is also a champion of contemporary music, especially works written by his Estonian compatriots, including Erkki-Sven Tüür, Eduard Tubin, Tõnu Kõrvits, and Helena Tulve.

Olari Elts performed his first concert with ENSO more than 20 years ago. The cooperation with ENSO became closer in 2007 when Elts became ENSO’s Principal Guest Conductor. Olari Elts has conducted numerous large-scale works with ENSO, including the concert version of Mozart’s "Idomeneo", Berlioz’s "The Damnation of Faust", Messiaen’s "Turangalîla-Symphonie", as well as Mendelssohn’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" (in collaboration with the Theatre NO99 and state concert institution Eesti Kontsert) among others. He has also conducted several cross-genre concerts, combining classical music with electronics and various visual effects and animations.

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