The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) is one of the best-known Estonian music ensembles in the world. It was founded in 1981 by Tõnu Kaljuste, who was its Artistic Director and Chief Conductor for 20 years. Paul Hillier and Daniel Reuss took over the positions in 2001 and 2008 respectively, and in 2014 Kaspars Putniņš became its new Artistic Director and Chief Conductor.
EPCC’s repertoire ranges from Gregorian chant to the music of the 21st century, with a special focus on the works of Estonian composers such as Arvo Pärt, Veljo Tormis, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Galina Grigorjeva, Toivo Tulev, Tõnu Kõrvits and Helena Tulve, and introducing their output to the world. The choir gives about 60 to 70 concerts each season in Estonia and abroad.
EPCC has worked with outstanding conductors including Claudio Abbado, Colin Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Paavo Järvi, Louis Langrée, Andrew Lawrence-King, Stephen Layton, Paul McCreesh, Marc Minkowski, Peter Phillips, Christoph Poppen and Helmuth Rilling, and leading orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestras, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Australian, Basel, Prague, Stuttgart and Tallinn Chamber Orchestras, etc.
EPCC has been a welcome guest at numerous music festivals and outstanding venues all over the world including the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Salzburg Festspiele, Mozartwoche, Festival Aix-en-Provence, Moscow Easter Festival, Bergen International Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Sydney Opera House, Vienna Konzerthaus, Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Versailles Opéra Royal, Barbican Centre in London, Kennedy Centre in Washington, Lincoln Centre and Carnegie Hall in New York, and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
EPCC boasts an impressive award-winning discography on various labels including ECM, Virgin Classics, Carus, Harmonia Mundi and Ondine. It has won two Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance (for Arvo Pärt’s Da Pacem with conductor Paul Hillier on Harmonia Mundi and Pärt’s Adam’s Lament with conductor Tõnu Kaljuste on ECM) and received 15 Grammy nominations. In 2018, its BIS recording of Schnittke’s Psalms of Repentance and Pärt’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, conducted by Kaspars Putniņš, won a Gramophone Award. Other awards include Diapason d’Or, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Danish Music Award, CHOC de l’Année Classica 2014 and so on.
