Born in Tallinn, Olari Elts began his tenure as music director and chief conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in the 2020/21 season, having been its principal guest conductor from 2007 to 2020. Since 2018 he has also been the artistic advisor of the Kymi Sinfonietta in Finland. He has previously served as prin cipal guest conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, artistic advisor of the Orchestre de Bretagne and chief con ductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. As a guest conductor, he has directed leading orchestras all over the world, including the Orchestre National de France, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. An expert interpreter of contemporary music, Elts founded the NYYD Ensemble, spe cialising in that genre. Soloists with whom he collaborates include Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Daniel Lozakovich, Isabelle Faust, Martin Helmchen, Stephen Hough, Karita Mattila, Baiba Skride and Antoine Tamestit. Olari Elts is known as a champion of contemporary Baltic composers. He has recorded extensively, in cluding violin concertos by Borgström and Shostakovich with Eldbjørg Hemsing and the Wiener Symphoniker on BIS.
www.olarielts.com
