Lauri Jõeleht

Lauri Jõeleht was born on December 14, 1974, in Tallinn.

He graduated in 1996 from the Georg Ots Tallinn Music School with a specialization in guitar under Tiit Peterson and furthered his studies (1996–1997) at the Barcelona Conservatory in the class of José Luis Lopategui. In 2001, he graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with a degree in composition under the guidance of Professor Eino Tamberg and Helena Tulve and in 2003, he obtained a master’s degree in the same field with Helena Tulve and Toivo Tulev as his teachers.

Since 1996, Lauri Jõeleht has worked as a guitar teacher. He currently teaches at the Old Town Educational College and the Pirita Guitar and Violin Studio. His students have achieved award-winning places in national and international guitar competitions. Jõeleht has been a member of the Estonian Guitar Society since 1999 and a member of the Estonian Composers’ Union since 2002. Since 2014, he has worked as a lecturer at the Institute of Interpretation Pedagogy at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

Lauri Jõeleht has created chamber and orchestral music as well as liturgical music. A significant part of his creative work includes choral compositions, which have been brought to life by renowned Estonian vocal groups: Vox Clamantis, Heinavanker, Orthodox Singers, Linnamuusikud, Voces Musicales. He has premiered most of his guitar works himself. Additionally, Jõeleht's works have been performed by the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, ERSO, Narva City Symphony Orchestra, Kaliningrad Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble U:, Ensemble Voces Musicales, Reval Ensemble, Collegium Consonante, Una Corda, Wind Quintet Estica, Ensemble Ars Nova (Sweden), Tallinn New Music Ensemble, String Quartet M4gnet.

In the last decade, he has written many solo pieces which have been repeatedly performed by various interpreters. Viola player Garth Knox has performed the piece "Chant Harmonique" in Estonia, Spain, Germany, England and China. The oboe solo piece "Ampla" has been performed by oboists Kalev Kuljus, Heli Ernits and Riivo Kallasmaa. Several new pieces for the oboe in different ensembles have been created at the request of oboist Dmitri Bulgakov.

At the request of accordionist Külli Kudu, two solo pieces and an Accordion Concerto have been created. Guitarists Stefan Östersjö, Kirill Ogorodnikov, and Kristo Käo have performed his guitar compositions. His works have been featured at festivals such as ISCM World Music Days, Hong Kong Arts Festival, "Estonian Music Days," "Nyyd," "Trialogos," "Afekt," Shanghai Viola Festival “Viva la Viola,” and the festival “Intersonanzen” in Germany.