Paavo Järvi (; born 30 December 1962) is an

Estonian-American Estonian Americans ( et, Ameerika eestlased) are Americans who are of Estonian ancestry, mainly descendants of people who left Estonia before and especially during World War II. According to the 2021 American Community Survey, around 29,000 Amer ...

conductor.

Early life

Järvi was born in

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 '' ...

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, an ...

, to Liilia Järvi and the Estonian conductor

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

. His siblings, Kristjan Järvi and Maarika Järvi, are also musicians. After leaving Estonia, the family settled in the USA, Järvi studied privately with

Leonid Grin Leonid Grin (Russian: Леонид Грин, IPA: �ɪɐˈnʲid ɡrʲin (born ) is an American conductor. Grin was born in Dnipropetrovsk ( UkSSR/ Ukraine). Trained from early childhood on as a pianist and composer, he later studied orchestra con ...

in Philadelphia, at 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 ...

with Max Rudolf and

Otto-Werner Mueller Otto-Werner Mueller (23 June 1926 – 25 February 2016) was a German-born conductor. He was a professor of conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, as well as at the Juilliard School in New York City. Mueller was born in Bensh ...

, and at the

Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute The Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute was a summer training program held in Los Angeles, California for conservatory aged orchestral instrumentalists and conductors. It ran from 1982 to 1991 under the auspices of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. H ...

with

Leonard Bernstein Leonard 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 the first America ...

Career

From 1994 to 1997, Järvi was principal conductor of the

Malmö Symphony Orchestra The Malmö Symphony Orchestra ( sv, Malmö Symfoniorkester) is a Swedish orchestra, based in Malmö. Since 2015, it has been resident at the Malmö Live Concert Hall. The orchestra has a complement of 94 musicians. History The orchestra was fo ...

. From 1995 to 1998, he shared the title of principal conductor of the

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( sv, Kungliga Filharmonikerna or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset. His ...

with Sir Andrew Davis. Järvi was music director of the

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary concert venue is Music Hall. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cinc ...

from 2001 to 2011. The orchestra made a number of recordings for the Telarc label during Järvi's tenure. In May 2011, he was named the orchestra's Music Director Laureate. Since 2004, he has been the Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie,

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

and an Artistic Advisor to 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 Ta ...

. In 2006, Järvi became the Principal Conductor of the

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra The Frankfurt Radio Symphony (german: hr-Sinfonieorchester) is the radio orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcasting network of the German state of Hesse. From 1929 to 1950 it was named ''Frankfurter Rundfunk-Symphonie-Orchester''. F ...

, and served in the post until 2014. In 2010, he became Music Director of the

Orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. History In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ...

, concluding his tenure in 2016, the same year in which he was named Artist of the Year by both ''Gramophone'' and ''Diapason'' magazines. Järvi is the founder and artistic director of both the Pärnu Music Festival and the Estonian Festival Orchestra. Järvi first guest-conducted the Tonhalle Orchestra in 2009, and returned in December 2016. In May 2017, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich announced the appointment of Järvi as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2019–2020 season, with an initial contract of five years. In December 2022, the orchestra announced an extension of Järvi's contract as its chief conductor through the 2028-2029 season. Outside of Europe, in June 2012, the

NHK Symphony Orchestra The is a Japanese broadcast orchestra based in Tokyo. The orchestra gives concerts in several venues, including the NHK Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. History The orchestra began as the ''New Symphony Orchestra'' on ...

announced the appointment of Järvi as its chief conductor, beginning in the 2015–2016 season, with an initial contract of three years, which was extended a further three years to 2021. In November 2019, the NHK Symphony announced an extension of his contract through August 2022, at which time he stood down as its chief conductor. Järvi has recorded for such labels as RCA,

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

, PENTATONE, Telarc, ECM, BIS and Virgin Records. His Virgin Classics recording of Sibelius Cantatas with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Estonian National Male Choir and Ellerhein Girls Choir won a Grammy Award for "Best Choral Performance".

Personal life

Järvi has two daughters, Lea and Ingrid, from his past marriage to the violinist Tatiana Berman. Järvi was featured in the documentary ''Maestro'', directed by David Donnelly. He became an American citizen in 1985.

Awards

* 2012: Hindemith Prize of the City of Hanau * 2012: Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres * 2013:

Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star ( et, Valgetähe teenetemärk; french: Ordre de l'Etoile Blanche) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Balti ...

, Estonia * 2015:

Sibelius Medal The Sibelius Medal is awarded to individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievements as performers or supporters of the music of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It has been awarded by the Sibelius Society of Finland since 1965. The ...

References

External links

Official website of Paavo Järvi

Paavo Järvi's non-profit foundation supporting the Arts

Official website of the Pärnu Music Festival

Official website of the Estonian Festival Orchestra

Official website of HarrisonParrott

Official website of the documentary film ''Maestro''

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvi, Paavo 1962 births 21st-century conductors (music) American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists Estonian conductors (music) Estonian emigrants to the United States Living people Musicians from New Jersey People from Rumson, New Jersey Musicians from Tallinn Grammy Award winners 21st-century American musicians People of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra Curtis Institute of Music alumni Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class Erato Records artists