Risto Joost

In August 2020, Risto Joost started as music director and Chief Conductor of Vanemuine Theatre.

Prizewinner of the Malko Conducting Competition 2015 and Jorma Panula Conducting Competition 2012, Risto Joost has gained widespread recognition for his work both in the opera pit and on concert stage. His repertoire ranges from Baroque to the most challenging works of contemporary composers.

Within short time Risto Joost has conducted many internationally acclaimed orchestras such as the MDR Leipzig Radio Choir (Artistic Director 2015-19), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, MDR Leipzig Symphony, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony, NorrlandsOperan Orchestra, Gävle Symphony, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Real Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevilla, Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä, Vaasa City Orchestra, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra (Chief Conductor 2013-2019), Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Youth Orchestra, Tallinn Baroque Orchestra and the Macao Orchestra. He has also been working a number of esteemed vocal ensembles such as the RIAS Kammerchor, Rundfunkchor Berlin, SWR Vokalensemble, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Swedish Radio Choir, Ars Nova Copenhagen and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.

His operatic repertoire includes L’elisir d’amore, La traviata, La Bohème, Tosca, Carmen, Gounod’s Faust, Capuleti e iMontecchi, Wallenberg by Erkki-Sven Tüür and ballets as Swan Lake, Nutcracker,  Manon, Modigliani – The Cursed Artist and others.

Upcoming seasons highlights are his debuts with Copenhagen Philharmonic, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, South Netherlands Philharmonic, Trondheim Symphony, Brno Philharmonic, and return visits with Helsinki Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Norwegian Opera Orchestra, Noord Nederlands Orkest, WKO Heilbronn, various projects with Janacek Philharmonic among others. With the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony and Choir Risto Joost directs several programmes with works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Tonu Korvits and others.

Risto Joosts discography includes recordings by Haydn with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Peeter Vähi with the Latvian National Symphony, Arvo Pärt with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Choir, various recordings of Estonian music with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra.

In 2022, Risto Joost won the Annual Estonian Theatre Award in the category of music productions for being the music director and conductor of the concert production of Mozart’s “Idomeneo”. In 2018, the music editors of Estonian Broadcasting Company nominated Risto Joost as the Estonian musician of the year. In 2016 Risto Joost received the Music Prize of the Cultural Endowment of  Estonia for artistic activities home and abroad and he was also awarded the Young Cultural Figure Award of the Estonian Republic in 2011.

Risto Joost has studied orchestral and choral conducting as well as singing at the Estonian Academy of Music and received further training at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In 2008, Risto Joost graduated from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with a Masters Degree, majoring in orchestral conducting with Jorma Panula.