ARVO VOLMER
CONDUCTOR
Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra,
Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Estonian National Opera.
The Estonian-born conductor, Arvo Volmer, is widely acclaimed for his performances at the opera as well as on the concert podium. A regular guest with The Bolshoi and the BBC Philharmonic, he is known for his interpretation of Sibelius, Nordic and Russian repertoire, Mahler and contemporary music.
courtesy of ASO
Arvo Volmer studied at the Tallinn State Conservatory (the current Estonian Music and Theatre Academy) with Professor Olev Oja and Professor Roman Matsov (1980 - 85) and at the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory with Professor Ravil Martynov, (1985 - 90). In 1988 he participated in the master classes of Helmuth Rilling in the United States.
Volmer made his professional debut in 1985 with the Estonian National Opera (ENO) at the age of 22 and has been associated there ever since.
He made his debut with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ENSO) in 1987, became its Associate Conductor in 1989 and was appointed the Music Director of the ENSO in 1993, a postion he held until 2001.
An international career was launched following his success as prizewinner at the 1989 Nikolai Malko Competition in Copenhagen. From 1994 until 2005 he held the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra, Finland.
In 2004 Arvo Volmer took up the position of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor with the Estonian National Opera. He is equally at home conducting opera or ballet.This effortless versatility has netted him theatre engagements across Europe. He has appeared with the Bolshoi Theatre, the Finnish National Opera, the Norwegian Opera, German National Theatre Mannheim, Chemnitz Theatre, Georgian National Opera in Thbilise, and Malmö Music Theatre among others.
courtesy of ASO
Arvo Volmer became Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) in 2004 and has recently extended his contract with the orchestra until 2013. During his directorship the orchestra has toured to Los Angeles and New York, performing at Royce and Carnegie Hallsl. In 2008 he began a Mahler Cycle with the ASO during which all Mahler symphonies are performed over a 5 year period. 2007 featured a Sibelius festival with Volmer conducting performances of all symphonies and other works by Sibelius. This led to the recording of the Sibelius symphonies by ABC Classics.
ASO begins the upcoming season with a performance of Mahler's eighth symphony at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, March 2010.
„…the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra are proud to present Mahler 8: Symphony of a Thousand at the 2010 Adelaide Festival. Under the baton of Maestro Arvo Volmer, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra will join forces with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra to perform Mahler's monumental 8th Symphony, backed by a phalanx of massed choirs from across Australia plus eight international soloists.“
courtesy of ASO
Arvo Volmer has conducted all major orchestras in Australia and New Zealand since making his Australian debut with the Tasmanian and West Australian Symphony Orchestras in 2001, He also conducted the ASO for the first time that year.
Future engagements in 2010 include performances with the Singpore Symphony Orchestra, Love for Three Oranges and La Boheme with Estonian National Opera, Mahler Eight and the Schumann Festival with ASO, La Fanciulla with Australian Opera, Sydney, and Sao Paulo Symphony.
He has recorded extensively, including the complete symphonies of Jean Sibelius and Eduard Tubin and the complete worls of Leevi Madetoja as well as discs of Swedish and Estonian contemporary music.
Arvo Volmer has appeared with the BBC Philharmonic, the City of Birmingham SO, L'Orchestrre National de France, Radio-Sinphonieorchester Berlin, the Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, the Philharmonic Orchestras of Stuttgart, Dortmund Nürnberg and many others in Germany, Orchestre de Bretagne.
He has conducted most of the symphony orchestras in Scandinavia, including the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras, Malmö and Gothenburg National Symphony Orchestras and Stockholm's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
He regularly appears with the Iceland SO, and with orchestras in Holland, Switzerland, Portugal and Israel, Poland, Czech Republic and the Baltic countries.
Volmer's most recent guest appearance in Australia was in July 2009 to full houses at the Sydney Opera House, conducting with dramatic effect, a stunning performance of Carmina Burana with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.