Anu Tali (born June 18, 1972) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n conductor.

Life and career

Tali was born in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. Her mother Anne Tali is a prominent mathematician. Her twin sister Kadri Tali is also a conductor and the director of the

Estonian National Symphony Orchestra Estonian National Symphony Orchestra ( et, Eesti Riiklik Sümfooniaorkester ''(ERSO)'') is the leading orchestra in Estonia and is based in the capital Tallinn. The orchestra traces it roots to 18 December 1926, the first concert broadcast by Tal ...

. She started her musical training as a pianist, and graduated from the Tallinn Music High School in 1991. She continued her studies in the Estonian Music Academy as a conductor with Kuno Areng, Toomas Kapten and Roman Matsov. From 1998 to 2000, she studied at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory with Ilya Musin and later with Leonid Korchmar. She began conducting studies in 1995 with

Jorma Panula Jorma Juhani Panula (born 10 August 1930) is a Finnish conductor, composer, and teacher of conducting. He has mentored many Finnish conductors, such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mikko Franck, Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä and Klaus ...

at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. In 1997, Tali and her twin sister Kadri Tali founded the Estonian-Finnish Symphony Orchestra, with Anu Tali as the orchestra's conductor and Kadri Tali as its manager. The orchestra later took on the name of the Nordic Symphony Orchestra. Tali and the Nordic Symphony Orchestra made their debut recording in 2002 with "Swan Flight", for Finlandia/Warner Classics, which featured two world premiere recordings, the orchestral suites ''Ocean'' and ''Swan Flight'' by

Veljo Tormis Veljo Tormis (7 August 1930 – 21 January 2017) was an Estonian composer, regarded as one of the great contemporary choral composers and one of the most important composers of the 20th century in Estonia.Daitz, Mimi. Ancient Song Recovered: The ...

. This recording earned her the Young Artist of the Year award at the 2003 Echo Klassic Awards in Germany. Their second recording was ''Action Passion Illusion'', also on Warner Classics. In North America, Tali made her US conducting debut with the

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra The New Jersey Symphony, formerly the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, is an American symphony orchestra based in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Symphony is the state orchestra of New Jersey, performing classical subscription concert serie ...

in January 2005. In April 2007, Tali was named Music Director of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and scheduled to begin in the post September 2007. However, in November 2008, the orchestra announced that it and Tali were unable to agree on contract terms, and Tali never assumed the Manitoba post. In the summer of 2006, Tali debuted at the Savonlinna Opera Festival with a new production of Carmen and also at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

with the Mozarteum Orchestra. Her work in contemporary music includes conducting the US premiere of Heiner Goebbels' ''Songs of Wars I Have Seen''. Tali made her first guest-conducting appearance with the

Sarasota Orchestra The Sarasota Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Sarasota, Florida. The orchestra is administratively based at the Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center. The orchestra performs concerts in Sarasota at several venues: * Holley Hall ...

in February 2011. In June 2013, the Sarasota Orchestra named Tali as its next music director, effective August 1, 2013, with an initial contract of 3 years. The orchestra extended her contract for another 3 years in 2016. In October 2017, the orchestra announced that Tali is to stand down from her music directorship of the orchestra in 2019. Tali and her husband Hendrik Agur, director of the Gustav Adolf Grammar School in Tallinn, were married in 2014. The couple have a child, born in May 2015. Her awards and honours include the Cultural Award of Estonia 2003 and the Presidential Award of Estonia in 2004. Tali has also recorded Estonian music with the Frankfurt RSO. In 2021, Anu Tali conducted the world premiere of Karola Obermüller's cello concerto Phosphor.

References

External links

HarrisonParrott agency biography of Anu Tali
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tali, Anu Living people 1972 births Estonian conductors (music) Tallinn Music High School alumni Estonian twins Women conductors (music) 21st-century conductors (music)