Olari Elts

Conductor

Olari Elts is Chief Conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2020, and was Artistic Advisor of the Kymi Sinfonietta 2018-2023. Known for his inventive and distinctive programming, he appears regularly with orchestras including the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and Budapest Festival Orchestra. A champion of contemporary Baltic composers, his acclaimed discography includes works by Erkki-Sven Tüür and Heino Eller.

Olari Elts first conducted the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in 2003, when Víkingur Heiðar Ólafsson performed Prokofiev's First Piano Concerto and Jón Nordal's Piano Concerto. He has returned twice since — in 2015 and in 2022, when he conducted Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances and the world premiere of Páll Ragnar Pálsson's Supremacy of Peace.