Tõnu Kalam is an American orchestral

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and conductor. He is best known as the music director of the UNC Symphony Orchestra at The University of North Carolina. He is also the former music director of the Longview Symphony Orchestra.

Biography

Early years

Kalam was born to

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 parents and has lived in the United States since age 2. He studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(A.B., 1969), the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

(M.A., 1971) and the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. Hi ...

(Certificate, 1973). In his training as a classical conductor, composer and pianist, he studied with conductor Max Rudolf and composers Leon Kirchner and Andrew Imbrie. Kalam won a prize in the inaugural Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Young Conductor's Competition, and also placed as a finalist in the Exxon/Arts Endowment Conductors Program. Also included in his credits are summer fellowships at

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the T ...

and

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

, and numerous years at the Marlboro Music School in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, where he was the guest conductor for the Beethoven Choral Fantasy on five occasions at the invitation of

Rudolf Serkin Rudolf Serkin (28 March 1903 – 8 May 1991) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. Early life, childhood debut, and education Serkin was born in t ...

Professional career

Kalam was Music Director of the Illinois Opera Theatre at the University of Illinois for seven years. Since 1984, he has been associated with the

Kneisel Hall Kneisel Hall is an annual chamber music festival and school located in Blue Hill, Maine. The season runs for seven weeks each summer from late June until mid-August. A small faculty works with approximately fifty young artists of collegiate and grad ...

summer chamber music festival in Blue Hill, Maine, where he served for thirteen years in a variety of administrative and musical capacities including Executive Director, Summer Program Director, Artist-Faculty pianist and chamber music coach. He also serves as Past President of the Board of Directors of the Conductors Guild. Tõnu Kalam's guest-conducting credits are numerous and include the

North Carolina Symphony The North Carolina Symphony (NCS) is an American orchestra based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with sixty-six full-time musicians. The orchestra performs in Meymandi Concert Hall and performs occasionally with the Carolina Ballet and the Opera Com ...

, the

Madison Symphony Orchestra The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an orchestra headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Its conductor is John DeMain, who began his 28th season with the orchestra in the fall of 2022. The orchestra was founded in 1925 as a small community ensemb ...

, the

Huntsville Symphony Orchestra The Huntsville Symphony Orchestra is a symphonic orchestra located in Huntsville, Alabama. The current conducting, conductor and music director is Gregory Vajda. Vajda has been the conductor since the 2011-2012 season. The orchestra's resident condu ...

, the

Shreveport Symphony Orchestra The Shreveport Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is based in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish and the largest city in north Louisiana. The SSO performs most of its concerts in the newly renovated RiverView Theater (formerly Shreveport Civic Theater) ...

, the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and the East Texas Symphony Orchestra. He has also conducted over 135 opera performances for a variety of companies including the Shreveport Opera, the Lake George Opera Festival and the Nevada Opera Company. Kalam's European debut was in 1994 where he conducted 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 ...

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 ' ...

and was immediately reengaged to make festival appearances the following year. He has since returned to Europe in 1997 to guest conduct

Finland's Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothn ...

Oulu Symphony Orchestra The Oulu Symphony Orchestra ( fi, Oulu Sinfonia or ') is a Finnish orchestra based in Oulu, Finland. Oulu Sinfonia gives concerts primarily at the Oulu Music Centre, in the ''Madetojan sali'' (Madetoja Concert Hall), located in the Karjasilta dis ...

and again in 2004 for the fourth time in

at the Tubin and His Time festival. Kalam currently teaches instrumental conducting at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1988. He is the Music Director and Conductor of the Longview Symphony Orchestra as well as the Founder, Music Director and Conductor of the Chapel Hill Chamber Orchestra along with the Music Director and Conductor of the UNC Symphony Orchestra.

References

Conductor's Guild Bio

Longview Symphony Orchestra Bio

UNC Music Department Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalam, Tonu American classical pianists American male pianists American male conductors (music) Aspen Music Festival and School alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Estonian emigrants to the United States Harvard University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Curtis Institute of Music alumni 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists American people of Estonian descent