Kristiina Poska opens Eesti Kontsert season with French youth orchestra

Conductor Kristiina Poska will open Eesti Kontsert’s autumn season with the French National Youth Orchestra, ERR reports. The concerts will take place in Tartu, Tallinn and Pärnu.

Poska has been the orchestra’s music director since last summer. Eesti Kontsert producer Tuuli Metsoja said her commitment to young musicians, broad experience, passion for contemporary music and ability to unite and inspire orchestra members fit well with the ensemble’s high artistic ambitions.

Under Poska’s direction, the orchestra brings together France’s best young instrumentalists, who are at the final stage before beginning professional careers while studying and performing major orchestral works from the 18th century to the present day.

The French National Youth Orchestra is currently touring the Baltic states with several different programmes. The Estonian concerts will feature music by Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel and Erkki Sven Tüür. All three concert halls will also present Edward Elgar’s popular Cello Concerto, with French cellist Edgar Moreau as soloist.

Moreau gained international attention in 2011, when he won second prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition at the age of 17, becoming one of the youngest laureates in the competition’s history. He has performed with leading orchestras at major concert venues worldwide and collaborated with prominent conductors and soloists.

The musicians will perform in Tartu on September 2, Tallinn on September 3 and Pärnu on September 4.