Kristjan Järvi (, alternate (U.S.) spelling: Kristian Järvi) (born 13 June 1972) is an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

conductor,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and producer. Born in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

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

, he is the younger son of the conductor

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...

and brother of conductor

Paavo Järvi Paavo Järvi (; born 30 December 1962) is an Estonian conductor. He has been chief conductor of Zurich's Tonhalle since 2020. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn, Estonia (then occupied by the Soviet Union), to Liilia Järvi and the Estoni ...

and

flutist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

Maarika Järvi.

Early life

When Järvi was age 7, his family emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and settled in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. He became an American citizen in 1985. He grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Järvi studied piano with Nina Svetlanova at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

. He later went on to study conducting at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

under

Kenneth Kiesler Kenneth Kiesler (born August 18, 1953) is an American symphony orchestra and opera conductor and mentor to conductors. Kiesler is conductor laureate of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra where he was music director from 1980 to 2000 and founder and d ...

Career

From 1998 to 2000, Järvi was Assistant Conductor to

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...

at the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

. He and the composer Gene Pritsker co-founded the Absolute Ensemble, based in

, in 1993, with Järvi as its music director. In 2007, Järvi and the Absolute Ensemble were awarded the Deutsche Bank Prize for Outstanding Artistic Achievement. Järvi was Chief Conductor and Music Director of NorrlandsOperan from 2000 to 2004. From 2004 to 2009, Järvi was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Tonkünstler Orchestra, Vienna. Järvi is also the current Artistic Advisor to the

Kammerorchester Basel The chamber orchestra Kammerorchester Basel was founded in Basel, Switzerland, in 1984. In the tradition of Paul Sacher's ''Basler Kammerorchester'', its focus is on both early music and contemporary classical music. The orchestra plays regularly ...

and the conductor and founder of the Baltic Sea Philharmonic (formerly Baltic Youth Philharmonic). In April 2011, Järvi was appointed the next chief conductor of the MDR Symphony Orchestra effective with the 2012–2013 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. His MDR contract was extended in 2015. In March 2017, the MDR announced that is to conclude his MDR Symphony Orchestra after the close of the 2017–2018 season. In addition to a Grammy nomination, Järvi has previously been awarded the German Record Critics Prize and a Swedish Grammy for the recording of Hilding Rosenberg's opera "Isle of Bliss". He has recorded

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

's ''

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

'' with the Tonkünstler Orchestra and Absolute Ensemble. While Järvi's repertoire includes pieces from the Classic and Romantic periods, he is also a specialist for 20th-century composers and contemporary music, having commissioned works by

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...

, Heinz Karl Gruber,

Erkki-Sven Tüür Erkki-Sven Tüür (; born 16 October 1959) is an Estonian composer. Life and career Tüür was born in Kärdla on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. He studied flute and percussion at the Tallinn Music School from 1976 to 1980 and composition wi ...

, Ezequiel Viñao, Peeter Vähi, Dave Soldier, Joe Zawinul,

Stefano Bollani Stefano Bollani (born 5 December 1972) is an Italian composer, pianist and singer, also active as a writer and a television presenter. He has worked with such musicians as Gato Barbieri, Chick Corea, Bill Frisell, Sol Gabetta, Richard Gallia ...

and Gediminas Gelgotas among others. In 2014, Järvi and the French record label Naïve Classique launched the 'Kristjan Järvi Sound Project', an ongoing series featuring recordings from all of Järvi's ensembles. Järvi defies musical orthodoxy and pursues his pioneering ideas and concepts with three bands and orchestras: Together with Gene Pritsker he co-founded the New York-based classical-hip-hop-jazz group “Absolute Ensemble”. Järvi is founder-conductor and artistic director of the “Baltic Sea Philharmonic” and he is leader of the “Sunbeam Production” in-house band “Nordic Pulse. As a recording artist Järvi has more than 60 albums to his credit, from Hollywood soundtracks such as “Cloud Atlas”, “Sense 8” (both productions of the Wachowski sisters), “Hologram for the King” (directed by Tom Tykwer) and award-winning albums on Sony Classical and Chandos, to his eponymous series: the “Kristjan Järvi Sound Project” and recording for Max Richter. In 2016 Kristjan Järvi started his own Production Company Sunbeam Productions in order to being able to bring unique live music experiences to his audiences. Kristjan recently signed a record deal with BMG – Modern Recordings. Where in 2020 he released his first own Album “Nordic Escapes” After “Snow Maiden” and “Swan Lake”, Kristjan´s own arrangements of Tchaikovsky´s Theatre Works series on Sony Classical takes off with its third release: “Sleeping Beauty”. Next releases will be “The Nutcracker”

Composer

As a composer Järvi has active many compositions, of modern style and some composed with the german composer Johnny Klimek of Klimek- Tykwer-

Heil Heil may refer to: * Heil (surname) * Heil, North Dakota, a census-designated place and unincorporated community in the United States *''Heil Hitler'', ''Sieg Heil'', a Nazi salute * Heil Sound, a manufacturer of audio and studio equipment. * Heil ...

fame, and some for orchestra, vocal, chorus or synth instruments. Some of his partial compositions are: * ''Rattle'', with Johnny Klimek (2019) * ''Pendleonium'', with Johnny Klimek (2019) * ''NEBULA'' (2019) * ''Kritical Mass'' (2018) * ''Babylon Charleston'' (2018), for the series '' Babylon Berlin''. His latest Album is ''Nordic Escapes'', released in August 2020 on Modern Recordings ( BMG)

References

Bibliography

*Järvi, Kristjan (2014): "A Soundtrack to Our Lives..." . In: Stoppe, Sebastian (ed.), Film in Concert: Film Scores and their Relation to Classical Concert Music, pp. 131–144. doi:10.25969/mediarep/16802.

External links

Kristjan Järvi official website
*
Dorn Music GmbH agency page on Kristjan Järvi

Absolute Ensemble official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvi, Kristjan 1972 births Estonian emigrants to the United States Living people Manhattan School of Music alumni Musicians from Monmouth County, New Jersey Composers from New York City Musicians from Tallinn People from Rumson, New Jersey University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni 21st-century Estonian conductors (music) Kristjan Chief conductors of the Tonkünstler Orchestra