WCJ Recommends
Classical Artist
Anu Tali
Biography
Conductor and music director of the Nordic Symphony Orchestra
Anu Tali (b. 1972) belongs to the new generation of open-minded young conductors who are searching for fresh musical ideas and profiles in the classical music world. She started her music training as a pianist, graduated from the Tallinn Music High School in 1991 and continued her studies in the Estonian Music Academy as a conductor with Prof. Kuno Areng, Dr.Toomas Kapten and Prof. Roman Matsow) where she received her diploma in 1995. From 1998 to 2000 Anu Tali studied at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory with Prof. Ilya Mussin and later with Leonid Kortchmar. Since 1995 she has regularly attended Prof. Jorma Panula’s master classes at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and in Moscow.
In 1997 Anu Tali founded the Nordic Symphony Orchestra (originally the Estonian-Finnish Symphony Orchestra), of which she remains artistic director and conductor. Since then she has also appeared regularly with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and has guest conducted in Finland (Lahti Symphony Orchestra , Oulu Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Jyväskylä Chamber Orchestra); in Latvia (Liepaja Symphony Orchestra), in Slovakia (Bratislava Soloists); in Russia ( Moscow Symphony Orchestra); in Austria (Tonkünstler Symphony Orchestra, I Frauen Kammerorchester von Österreich); in Sweden (Norrlands Opera, Gävle Symphony Orchestra); in Japan (Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra); and in Germany (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra). In the 2004/2005 she is guest conducting the Japan Philharmonic, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Tyrol Symphony Orchestra and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Since 2002 Anu Tali has been the conductor of Vanemuine Opera in Tartu, Estonia.
Anu Tali’s 'own' orchestra, the Nordic Symphony Orchestra, was
founded by Anu and and her twin sister Kadri Tali, to develop cultural contacts between Estonia and Finland and to involve musicians from all over the world. Their aim is to bring together young musicians from leading orchestras of the world to play together, helping to improve the level of music-making by uniting the best qualities of different instrumental schools and traditions. There are musicians from about 15 countries and they perform together five times a year. One of the goals of the NSO is to attract the attention of potential audiences without simplifying the contents of the programmes, serving the best of core classical repertoire as well as contemporary and less well-known music. The themed concert seasons, such as The Musical Capitals of the World (1998/1999), Life and Death (1999/2000), Symphony (2000/2001), Musica Grande (2001/2002), Passion or Passion (2002/2003) and A la Russe (2003/2004) have proved highly successful and established an innovative profile for the orchestra. It is also significant that the Orchestra is financed exclusively by the The Friends of the NSO.
Swan Flight (Finlandia/Warner Classics) released in 2002 was the debut recording of the NSO and Anu Tali and brought together two world premiere recordings: orchestral suites Ocean and Swan Flight by Estonian composer Veljo Tormis (b. 1930), who until then was mostly known for his choral music. At the Echo Klassic Awards 2003 in Germany, Anu Tali was named as Young Artist of the Year for the recording. She was also given the Cultural Award of Estonia 2003 and the Presidential Award of Estonia 2004 for her work introducing Estonian music in the world. Anu Tali has also recorded Estonian music with Frankfurt RSO.
The NSO and Tali have just recorded their second CD for Warner Classics, Action Passion Illusion. The programme is Rachmaninov's Three Russian Folk Songs, Sibelius's The Wood Nymph and three works by Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür: Action, Passion, Illusion* and Zeitraum [*world premiere] and will be released in spring 2005.
