October 28th Rehearsal conducted by Tõnu Kalam

Professor Tõnu Kalam

Our next rehearsal will be this Saturday, October 28th. Ms Shelley Livingston is out of town and we are very fortunate to have Professor Tõnu Kalam fill in for her at this weeks rehearsal.

Prof. Kalam was born of Estonian parents and has lived in the United States since the age of two. Trained as a conductor, pianist and composer, he studied with conductor Max Rudolf and composers Leon Kirchner and Andrew Imbrie. His summer credits include fellowships at Tanglewood and Aspen as well as many years at the Marlboro Music Festival, where he conducted the Beethoven Choral Fantasy on five occasions at the invitation of legendary pianist Rudolf Serkin.

He has guest conducted the North Carolina Symphony, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, and the East Texas Symphony Orchestra, among others, and has served as Music Director of the New England Chamber Orchestra in Boston. He was a prizewinner in the first Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Young Conductor’s Competition and was also a finalist in the prestigious Exxon/Arts Endowment Conductors Program.

Professor Tõnu Kalam has conducted over 135 opera performances for companies such as the Shreveport Opera, the Lake George Opera Festival, and the Nevada Opera. 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, 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 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. 

Having served 10 years on the board of directors of the Conductors Guild, including a term as president, he is now a member of the Advisory Council of that organization, which is devoted to the advancement of the art of conducting and to serving the artistic and professional needs of conductors worldwide.

Read his full bio