Neeme Jarvi

The head of a musical dynasty, Neeme Järvi is one of today’s most highly respected maestros. During his long and very successful career, Neeme Järvi has worked with numerous orchestras all over the world. As one of the most prolific recording conductors, he has more than 600 albums on his credit.

Neeme Järvi’s cooperation with ENSO began in 1956; in 1960 he became a regular conductor and in 1963 the principal conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Estonian Radio (the present Estonian National Symphony Orchestra). Neeme Järvi’s arrival brought about a substantial improvement and stabilization in the quality of the orchestra’s performance. The repertoire of the orchestra broadened considerably and music was more frequently recorded for Estonian Radio and the Melodiya Record Company. The second half of the 1970s marks the beginning of annual concerts in the Grand Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonia and performances and recordings in Moscow. With Neeme Järvi, the orchestra also went on its first foreign tours – in 1972 to Romania and Bulgaria and in 1976 to Kuwait.

Neeme Järvi’s reunion with ENSO after his emigration to the US early in 1980 happened in 1993; two years later he took the orchestra with the Tobias oratorio Jonah’s Mission to Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmö and Helsinki. From the 2010/2011 season, he has once again been the artistic director of ENSO.

Neeme Järvi has been one of the most active promoters of Estonian music in the world. He and ENSO have been the first to perform such Estonian compositions as Arvo Pärt’s Symphonies No 1 (1964) and No 3 (1971, dedicated to Neeme Järvi) and Eduard Tubin’s Symphony No 8 (1967).

• Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
  Principal Conductor from 1963 to 1979, Principal Conductor and Artistic Director from 2010,
• Honorary Artistic Director for Life from 2017
• Estonian National Opera
  Principal Conductor from 1963 to 1975
• Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
  Principal Conductor from 1982 to 2004, now Principal Conductor Emeritus
• Royal Scottish National Orchestra
  Principal Conductor from 1984 to 1988, now Conductor Laureate
• Detroit Symphony Orchestra
  Music Director from 1990 to 2005, now Music Director Emeritus
• Residentie Orchestra The Hague
  Principal Conductor from 2005 to 2012, now Principal Conductor Emeritus
• New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
  Music Director from 2005 to 2008, now Conductor Laureate and Artistic Adviser
• Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
  Artistic and Music Director from 2012 to 2015

Official site
www.neemejarvi.ee