Kristjan Järvi led Hamburg concerts with Calum Scott and Kontra K

Estonian conductor Kristjan Järvi led three concerts in Hamburg with German rapper Kontra K and British pop star Calum Scott, ERR reported. The performances took place from October 1 to 3 at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus theatre as part of the charity series Channel Aid – live in Concert 2026.

Järvi was joined on stage by the Lufthansa Orchestra and seven musicians from his band Nordic Pulse. It was the first time Kontra K had performed his own music with an orchestra. A live broadcast of those concerts reached more than 200 cinemas in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, many of them sold out.

Järvi’s team prepared the orchestral arrangements for Scott’s performance. Nearly 100,000 people around the world watched its livestream on YouTube and TikTok.

The collaboration followed Järvi’s Orchestral Rituals approach, in which Nordic Pulse musicians perform as part of the host orchestra rather than as a separate ensemble.

Nordic Pulse manager Nora Liisa Suislepp said the Hamburg project showed the international reach of work by Estonian musicians and creators. “We often talk in Estonia about how our artists could reach the world more, but sometimes it is worth noticing that Estonians are already doing very exciting and large-scale things internationally,” she said.

Channel Aid combines music and charity, directing income earned through digital channels to social projects for children and young people.