Ivo Posti (born 26 October 1975 in

Vana-Kuuste Vana-Kuuste is a village in Kambja Parish, Tartu County in eastern 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 Fin ...

) 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 ...

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...

and historian. Director of Narva Museum.

Early life

Ivo Posti at first studied history in the Estonian

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

and became a teacher of Political Science. Between 1996–2001, he studied singing with Aino Kõiv at the

Heino Eller Heino Eller (7 March 1887 – 16 June 1970) was an Estonian composer and pedagogue, known as the founder of contemporary Estonian symphonic music. Life Eller was born in Tartu, where he took private lessons in violin and music theory, played ...

Music School in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

, and from 2001 until 2007, he studied at

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherl ...

where his teachers were Rita Dams and Barbara Pearson. He has also studied with Marius van Altena and Diane Forlano and has had master classes with Taru Valjakka, Thomas Wiedenhofer,

Michael Chance Michael Chance CBE (born in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom 7 March 1955) is an English countertenor and the founder and Artistic Director of The Grange Festival. Chance was born in Penn, Buckinghamshire, into a musical family. After growing u ...

Jill Feldman Jill Feldman (born 21 April 1952 in Los Angeles) is an American soprano who has acquired an international reputation for her interpretation of medieval, baroque and classical repertoires. Her highly expressive singing art combines great vocal agi ...

, Rick Harrell, Niels Muus, Brian Masuda and Roberta Alexander.

Career

Ivo Posti has given concerts in Estonia and abroad. He has also won many prizes in different competitions (both as a pop singer and an opera singer). Since 2005 Posti has organized masterclasses for classical singers in

. In the 2007–2008 season, Posti was a member of Opera Studio Nederland. In January 2008 he debuted in co-operation with the

Aix-en-Provence Festival The Festival d'Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumenta ...

in France, where he performed the role of The Spirit in ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was co ...

'' by

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

Opéra de Lille The Opéra de Lille is a neo-classical opera house, built from 1907 to 1913 and officially inaugurated in 1923. Closed for renovation in 1998 it reopened in 2003 for Lille 2004. The Opéra de Lille is a member of the European Network for Opera, M ...

and

Grand Théâtre de Provence The Grand Théâtre de Provence (GTP) is a venue located in the new Aix-en-Provence in district "Sextius Mirabeau". A symbol of the Aix region was used for the design of the volumes of this room: the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, recalled in particul ...

(conducted by Kenneth Weiss). In the season 2008-2009 he sang the role of Grazia in ''

Ercole Amante ''Ercole amante'' (''Hercules in Love'', French: ''Hercule amoureux'') is an opera in a prologue and five acts by Francesco Cavalli. Its Italian libretto is by Francesco Buti, based on Sophocles' ''The Trachiniae'' and on the ninth book of Ovid ...

'' by

Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...

De Nederlandse Opera The Dutch National Opera (DNO; formerly De Nederlandse Opera, now De Nationale Opera in Dutch) is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a m ...

and role of Parque in ''

Hippolyte et Aricie ('' Hippolytus and Aricia'') was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé Sim ...

'' by

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of Fr ...

at the Nationale Reisopera in

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He also performed

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

's ''

Brockes Passion The ''Brockes Passion'', or ' (title in English: ''The Story of Jesus, Suffering and Dying for the Sins of the World''), is a German oratorio libretto by Barthold Heinrich Brockes, first published in 1712 and going through 30 or so editions in th ...

'' in April 2009 with

Concerto Copenhagen The Danish national baroque orchestra Concerto Copenhagen is one of the leading baroque orchestras in the world. History Danish National Baroque Orchestra Concerto Copenhagen played its first concerts in 1991 and has since developed into the lead ...

(conducted by Kenneth Weiss) in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. In June 2010 he sang the role of Vjazemskaja in ''The Dog's Heart'' by

Alexander Raskatov Alexander Mikhailovich Raskatov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Раска́тов; born 9 March 1953, in Moscow) is a Russian composer. Life Alexander Raskatovs father was a leading journalist of the magazine ''Krokodil'', h ...

(world-premiere) at

. Posti also sings jazz and ballades as a baritone.

References

Sources

*Opera Studio Nederlan
Biography
*

José Iturbi José Iturbi Báguena (28 November 189528 June 1980) was a Spanish conductor, pianist and harpsichordist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the musicals ''Thousands Cheer'' (1943), '' Music for Mill ...

Foundation
24 Semi-Finalists Selected to Compete for $250000 in Cash Prizes in the 2007 José Iturbi Music Competition
*Pelegrin, Benito
Review: Aix-en-Provence. Grand Théâtre de Provence, le 23 janvier 2008. Henry Purcell, Didon et Enée. Académie Européenne de Musique
''Classique News'', 28 January 2008 (in French) 1975 births Living people People from Kambja Parish 21st-century Estonian male opera singers Operatic countertenors University of Tartu alumni Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni {{Estonia-opera-singer-stub