ERSO marks 100 years as Kristjan Hallik reflects on its growth

Estonia’s National Symphony Orchestra is preparing to mark its 100th anniversary, while board member Kristjan Hallik says its ability to stay fresh and introduce diverse music has made it one of the world’s most notable orchestras, ERR reported.

The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, or ERSO, will celebrate its centenary throughout the upcoming season. Founded as an ensemble attached to the national broadcasting service, it has grown into a full-scale, top-level orchestra with more than 100 musicians.

Hallik has served as an ERSO board member since February 2015. He has worked with chief conductors Neeme Järvi and Olari Elts to strengthen the orchestra’s flexible approach, which values each musician’s individual contribution. He also helped guide ERSO out of the COVID-19 era in a stronger position than before.

From ensemble to independent orchestra

Hallik said the orchestra began as a symphonic ensemble and quickly grew from a chamber group into a 30-member, 35-member and eventually 70-member orchestra.

Although ERSO has developed continuously, he described the final third of its 100-year history as particularly turbulent. The early 1990s were difficult, as many musicians left Estonia in search of better opportunities after the country’s borders opened. Almost half of the first violin section moved to Finland, along with many other musicians.

At the time, chief conductor Arvo Volmer faced the challenge of maintaining the quality and number of concerts while also finding new musicians.

Another important turning point came when the orchestra gained institutional independence, first leaving the broadcasting service and then becoming an independent institution in 2001. Hallik said ERSO has since developed into a strong concert organisation.

Arguments made at the time of its independence did not immediately take effect, he said, but ultimately proved correct. In an interview at the time, Margus Allikmaa predicted that ERSO would organise concerts and communicate with audiences in a more focused way as an independent organisation. “That is how it has turned out,” Hallik said.

An orchestra for people’s homes

When the ensemble was founded in 1926, broadcasting services were beginning across Europe. Other broadcasting orchestras in Europe are also approaching their centenaries, with some founded a few years earlier and others a few years later.

Hallik said ERSO’s history was notable because it was never only a concert orchestra. From the beginning, it was also an orchestra for people’s homes, helping to develop the habit of listening to music. It was broadcast as many as six days a week.

He recalled a short film at the Arvo Pärt Centre in which the composer, as a child in Rakvere, rides a bicycle around a loudspeaker and listens to an orchestral concert. “He was listening to ERSO,” Hallik said.

Declining share of state funding

Hallik said the 1990s were probably the most difficult period for Estonia’s cultural institutions. Although Eurostat statistics are often cited as proof that Estonia invests almost more in culture than any other European country, he said the share of gross domestic product allocated to culture had fallen sharply compared with the state’s overall contribution to running the country.

Hallik said cultural figures had recently been trying to understand why people felt the state was doing increasingly well while those working in culture felt that conditions were deteriorating.

He attributed the discrepancy partly to the basis of comparison. Estonia now hosts more events and its gross domestic product has grown, but the share of GDP allocated to culture compared with the state’s overall contribution to running the country has continued to decline. He said Estonia had experienced the steepest decline in Europe.