Kristiina Poska (born 12 July 1978,

Türi Türi is a town in Järva County, Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Türi Parish. Since 2000, Türi is known as the "spring capital" of Estonia. It has a railway station on the Tallinn - Viljandi railway line operated by Elron (rail tr ...

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 ...

) is an

n conductor.

Biography

At age eight, Poska began

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

lessons. She graduated from Türi Music School in piano studies in 1994, and then studied choral conducting at the Georg Ots Tallinn Music College from 1994 to 1998. She continued her choral conducting studies in 2002 at Eesti Muusikaakadeemia (the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre). She subsequently moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, where she studied at the

Universität der Künste The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

(Berlin University of the Arts) with Kai-Uwe Jirka and

Jörg-Peter Weigle Jörg-Peter Weigle (born 1953, in Greifswald), is a German conductor and music professor. He is the uncle of the conductor Sebastian Weigle and the violist Friedemann Weigle. Weigle received his first musical training from 1963 to 1971 as a memb ...

. From 2004 to 2009, she studied orchestral conducting at the

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

with Christian Ehwald. In the spring of 2008, she received a scholarship from the Conductors Forum at the German Music Council, where her conducting mentors included

Peter Gülke Peter Ludwig Gülke (born 29 April 1934) is a German conductor and musicologist. Biography Born in Weimar, Gülke studied cello and musicology at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar. He completed his doctorate in philosophy in Leipzi ...

Reinhard Goebel Reinhard Goebel (; born 31 July 1952 in Siegen, West Germany) is a German conductor and violinist specialising in early music on authentic instruments and professor for historical performance at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Goebel received his fi ...

, and

Eri Klas Eri Klas (7 June 1939 – 26 February 2016) was an Estonian conductor. Klas was born into a Jewish family in Tallinn. His mother was pianist Anna Klas. His father, Eduard Klas, was killed in 1941, during the Holocaust.''Eesti Entsüklope ...

. In 1998, Poska founded the Estonian choir ''Nimeta'' ('No Name'). From 2006 to 2011, she conducted the Cappella Academica symphony orchestra of the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

. Following engagements at the

Komische Oper Berlin The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces opera, operetta and musicals. The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, just a few steps from Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, al ...

in the 2010–2011 season ('' La Traviata'', ''

La Périchole ''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French libretto based on the 1829 one act play '' Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement'' by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived o ...

''), she served as ''Erste Kapellmeisterin'' with the company from 2012 to 2016. In October 2018,

Theater Basel Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas. Because the theatre does not ha ...

announced the appointment of Kristiina Poska as its next General Music Director (GMD; ''Generalmusikdirektorin''), the first female conductor to hold the post. She served as GMD of the Theater Basel for the 2019–2020 season. In March 2019, the ''Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen'' (Flanders Symphony Orchestra) announced the appointment of Poska as its next chief conductor, the first female conductor to be named to the post, effective with the 2019–2020 season. In May 2021, the

Latvian National Symphony Orchestra The Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO; lv, Latvijas Nacionālais simfoniskais orķestris) is a Latvian orchestra based in Riga. Its primary performance venue is the Great Guild Hall in Riga. In addition to regular symphonic concert ...

announced the appointment of Poska as its next principal guest conductor, the first female conductor to be named to the post, effective in the autumn of 2021, with an initial contract of two seasons.

Awards

* Orchestra's Preference Award at the Dimitri Mitropoulos International Competition for Conducting in Athens, October 2006 * First prize, 5th Bergische Symphoniker Female Conductors' Competition, May 2007 * Top 3, Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in London (2010) * German Operetta Prize for Young Conductors (jointly awarded by

Leipzig Opera The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany. History Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Sing ...

and the Conductor's Forum of the

Deutscher Musikrat The Deutscher Musikrat (DMR, ''German Music Council''; ) is an umbrella organization for music associations and the 16 music councils of the German federal states.musikrat.deÜberblick über Organisationsstruktur des DMR(retrieved on 10 May 2019) ...

) * Audience prize,

Leipziger Volkszeitung The ''Leipziger Volkszeitung'' or ''LVZ'' (German for ''Leipzig People's Newspaper'') is a daily regional newspaper in Leipzig and western Saxony, Germany. First published on 1 October 1894, the LVZ was formerly an important publication of the ...

* Third prize and audience prize, Nikolai Malko Conducting Competition, Copenhagen, May 2012 * German Conducting Prize (€35,000 prize money) offered by the German Music Council in cooperation with the

Konzerthaus Berlin The Konzerthaus Berlin is a concert hall in Berlin, the home of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Situated on the Gendarmenmarkt square in the central Mitte district of the city, it was originally built as a theater. It initially operated from ...

, April 2013

References

External links

Official homepage of Kristiina Poska

Eesti Muusika Infokeskus (Estonian Music Information Centre) Estonian-language page on Kristiina Poska

HarrisonParrott agency page on Kristiina Poska

Komische Oper Berlin German-language page on Kristiina Poska
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poska, Kristiina 1978 births Living people Estonian conductors (music) Estonian expatriates in Germany Estonian women conductors (music) People from Türi Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni 21st-century conductors (music) Tallinn Georg Ots Music School alumni Berlin University of the Arts alumni