Tonu Kaljuste

The founder of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Tõnu Kaljuste is a major exponent of Estonian contemporary music. He has also been active as a conductor outside Estonia and has a large repertory of music from Russia and Western Europe, in addition to his native country. Kaljuste was born on August 28, 1953, in Tallinn, Estonia, then part of the Soviet Union. His father, Heino Kaljuste, was the conductor of the Ellerhein Chamber Choir, and the younger Kaljuste had his first musical experiences as a singer in that group. His m...