Tõnu Kalam is an American orchestral

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. He is best known as the music director of the UNC Symphony Orchestra at The University of North Carolina. He is also the former music director of the Longview Symphony Orchestra.

Biography

Early years

Kalam was born to

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 ...

n parents and has lived in the United States since age 2. He studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(A.B., 1969), the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

(M.A., 1971) and the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

(Certificate, 1973). In his training as a classical conductor, composer and pianist, he studied with conductor Max Rudolf and composers

Leon Kirchner Leon Kirchner (January 24, 1919 – September 17, 2009) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he won a Pulitzer Pr ...

and

Andrew Imbrie Andrew Welsh Imbrie (April 6, 1921 – December 5, 2007) was an American contemporary classical music composer and pianist. Career Imbrie was born in New York City and began his musical training as a pianist when he was 4. In 1937, he went to Par ...

. Kalam won a prize in the inaugural Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Young Conductor's Competition, and also placed as a finalist in the Exxon/Arts Endowment Conductors Program. Also included in his credits are summer fellowships at

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

and

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

, and numerous years at the Marlboro Music School in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, where he was the guest conductor for the Beethoven Choral Fantasy on five occasions at the invitation of

Rudolf Serkin Rudolf Serkin (28 March 1903 – 8 May 1991) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. Early life, childhood debut, and education Serkin was born in ...

Professional career

Kalam was Music Director of the Illinois Opera Theatre at the University of Illinois for seven years. Since 1984, he has been associated with the Kneisel Hall summer chamber music festival in

Blue Hill, Maine Blue Hill is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States, located on Blue Hill Bay. The population was 2,792 at the 2020 census. It is home to the Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, George Stevens Academy, the Blue Hill ...

, where he served for thirteen years in a variety of administrative and musical capacities including Executive Director, Summer Program Director, Artist-Faculty pianist and chamber music coach. He also serves as Past President of the Board of Directors of the Conductors Guild. Tõnu Kalam's guest-conducting credits are numerous and include the

North Carolina Symphony The North Carolina Symphony (NCS) is an American orchestra based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with sixty-six full-time musicians. The orchestra performs in Meymandi Concert Hall and performs occasionally with the Carolina Ballet and the Opera Co ...

, the

Madison Symphony Orchestra The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an orchestra headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. Its conductor is John DeMain, who began his 30th season with the orchestra in the fall of 2023. The orchestra was founded in 1925 as a s ...

, the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and the East Texas Symphony Orchestra. He has also conducted over 135 opera performances for a variety of companies including the

Shreveport Opera The Shreveport Opera is an opera company in the city of Shreveport, Louisiana, 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 fed ...

, the Lake George Opera Festival and the Nevada Opera Company. Kalam's European debut was in 1994 where he conducted the

Estonian National Symphony Orchestra The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra ( ''(ERSO)'') (formerly known as the Symphony Orchestra of the Estonian Radio Committee, Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Estonian SSR State Symphony Orchestra) is a symphony orchestra based in Talli ...

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 ...

and was immediately reengaged to make festival appearances the following year. He has since returned to Europe in 1997 to guest conduct Finland's Oulu Symphony Orchestra and again in 2004 for the fourth time in

at the Tubin and His Time festival. Kalam currently teaches instrumental conducting at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1988. He is the Music Director and Conductor of the Longview Symphony Orchestra as well as the Founder, Music Director and Conductor of the Chapel Hill Chamber Orchestra along with the Music Director and Conductor of the UNC Symphony Orchestra.

References

Conductor's Guild Bio

Longview Symphony Orchestra Bio

UNC Music Department Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalam, Tonu American classical pianists American male pianists American male conductors (music) Aspen Music Festival and School alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Estonian emigrants to the United States Harvard University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Curtis Institute of Music alumni 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists