{"id":5333,"date":"2022-06-09T12:39:20","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T10:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erso.ee\/bio\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T16:30:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T14:30:49","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/erso.ee\/en\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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THE ESTONIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (ERSO)<\/strong> is a dynamic and versatile orchestra performing at the highest international level. Estonia\u2019s oldest and most distinguished continuously active symphony orchestra celebrates its 100th season this year. ERSO\u2019s history dates back to 1926 and, like that of many orchestras around the world, is closely linked to the birth and development of national broadcasting. The orchestra grew out of an ensemble established at Estonian Radio, which in the early days of broadcasting performed short pieces of music live on air between spoken segments. By 1945, the radio orchestra had developed into a full-scale symphony orchestra.<\/p>\n

Since the 2020\/21 season, the orchestra of more than 100 musicians has been led by Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Olari Elts. Neeme J\u00e4rvi continues his long-standing association with ERSO as Honorary Artistic Director for Life, while Paavo J\u00e4rvi is the orchestra\u2019s Artistic Adviser. ERSO\u2019s former chief conductors include Olav Roots, Paul Karp, Roman Matsov, Neeme J\u00e4rvi, Peeter Lilje, Leo Kr\u00e4mer, Arvo Volmer, Nikolai Aleksejev, and, once again, Neeme J\u00e4rvi.<\/p>\n

ERSO has toured extensively and appeared at prestigious international music festivals. During the current centenary season, the orchestra will embark on concert tours to South Korea and Austria. In December 2025, ERSO performed in Ljubljana and Bregenz under the baton of Chief Conductor Olari Elts. In 2024, the orchestra appeared in Linz, Vienna, and Prague. May 2023 saw ERSO\u2019s first tour of the United Kingdom, with 11 concerts given over the course of two weeks. In 2022, the orchestra performed under Olari Elts in Nuremberg, Munich, and Paris. At the end of November 2021, ERSO and Elts took part in Eufonie, the International Music Festival of Central and Eastern Europe in Poland.<\/p>\n

In 2019, ERSO and Neeme J\u00e4rvi opened the prestigious Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier and toured Central Europe, performing under J\u00e4rvi in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, the Great Hall of the Brucknerhaus in Linz, the Dvo\u0159\u00e1k Hall of Prague\u2019s Rudolfinum, and the Festspielhaus in Bregenz, as well as under Mihhail Gerts in Erlangen and Viersen, Germany. ERSO has also appeared on many of the world\u2019s leading stages, including the Konzerthaus Berlin, New York\u2019s Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall), the Grand Hall of the St Petersburg Philharmonia and the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, the Cologne Philharmonie, Helsinki Music Centre, and Stockholm\u2019s Berwaldhallen, among others.<\/p>\n

ERSO\u2019s recordings have received acclaim from leading international classical music publications and have earned the orchestra numerous prestigious awards. The most significant of these was Estonia\u2019s first Grammy Award, received in 2004 under the baton of Paavo J\u00e4rvi. At the Estonian Music Awards, ERSO\u2019s recording of Heino Eller\u2019s symphonic works was named Classical Album of the Year in 2020, while Erkki-Sven T\u00fc\u00fcr\u2019s portrait album Aeris, also conducted by Olari Elts, received the same distinction in 2026. In 2020, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia\u2019s Music Endowment also honoured ERSO and Olari Elts with its annual award for their recordings of Heino Eller\u2019s music. ERSO enjoys successful collaborations with such renowned record labels as Chandos, BIS, Onyx, Ondine, ERP, and others.<\/p>\n

In addition to broadcasts by Estonian radio and television channels, ERSO concerts have been featured on Mezzo and medici.tv, while broadcasts distributed through the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) have reached radio audiences across Europe.<\/p>\n

The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra performs regularly at its home venue, Estonia Concert Hall, where audiences can hear the orchestra almost every Friday. ERSO concerts are also broadcast on Estonia\u2019s classical music radio station Klassikaraadio, and since 2020 they have been available on ERSO TV (erso.tv), which offers both live concert streams and on-demand access to past performances.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\t

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