Risto Joost (EE)

About

Risto Joost wears two hats that rarely go together: he is both an orchestral conductor and an operatic countertenor, a combination that gives him an unusually deep feel for the music he leads. The Estonian born, Tallinn raised artist has built a career spanning some of Northern Europe's most prestigious ensembles, serving as principal conductor of the Estonian National Choir, the Nederlands Kamerkoor, and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra simultaneously. Before all of that he cut his teeth with the Tallinn Sinfonietta from 2008 to 2011. His conducting pedigree is seriously impressive. He studied under Jorma Panula in Stockholm and took master classes with both Neeme Järvi and Esa Pekka Salonen, two conductors who need no peers as a reference point. He also spent several seasons as artistic director of the MDR Rundfunkchor in Leipzig, one of Germany's leading radio choirs, cementing his reputation well beyond the Baltic region.