Estonian conductor Erki Pehk studied piano, choir, and orchestra conducting at the Estonian Academy of Music in Tallinn where he graduated in 1993. He continued his studies in orchestra conducting in Riga at the Latvian Academy of Music. During his studies, he also participated in the Kirill Kondrashin Conductor's Masterclass in Hilversum, the Netherlands (1990) and attended a Conducting Interpretation Course in Stuttgart with John Eliot Gardiner (1991). In 1997 he finalized his studies as a post-graduate student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Mr.Pehk has also participated in international competitions and 1999 and 2001 he was a semifinalist in the International Conductor's Competition in Besancon (France).
From 1994 – to 2011 he was engaged as a conductor at the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn conducting more than 700 performances of this company. He was also invited to teach conducting at the Tallinn Music College and held this teaching position from 1992 to 1997. Mr. Pehk has furthermore been involved as Music Director at several large-scale productions of classics of the musical repertoire with Estonian music theatre company Smithbridge Productions (1998-2008).
Since 2001 Mr Pehk has been the Artistic Director of the renowned Klaudia Taev International Competition for Young Opera Singers in Pärnu (Estonia) and in 2005 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Pärnu International Opera Music Festival (PromFest). For artistic achievements with this festival and the production of Thaïs by Massenet, Mr Pehk was given the State Prize of Musical Theatre of Estonia 2010.
As an international guest conductor, Mr. Pehk has collaborated with the State Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre (Republic of Belarus), Erfurt Theater (Germany), Rennes Opéra and Angers-Nantes Opéra (France), Varna State Opera and Bourgas State Opera (Bulgaria) and Kaunas State Musical Theater (Lithuania). In November 2010, he debuted in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with the Opera Studio of The Netherlands. He also conducted tours of Die Fledermaus and Die Lustige Witwe with International Opera Productions in various theatres in Belgium and the Netherlands from 2011 to 2012. He has conducted concerts in many other countries like Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Russia, and Ukraine.
He collaborated with several renowned musicians: violinist Tatiana Grindenko, countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic, flute player Camilla Hoitenga, soprano Barbara Hendricks, trumpet player, and composer Markus Stockhausen, composer Sofia Gubaidulina, etc.
In 2000 he founded his orchestra in Tallinn: the 21st Century Orchestra and is the principal conductor of this ensemble that plays mostly contemporary but classic repertoire from Estonian and international composers.
The most active collaboration has Mr. Pehk with the Kaunas State Musical Theatre (since 2011), with the Ukrainian National Chamber Ensemble "Kyiv Soloists" (since 2016) and with the Panevežys Musical Theatre (since 2023).
ERKI PEHK HAS WORKED WITH THE FOLLOWING ORCHESTRA AND THEATERS:
Estonian National Opera
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra
Symphony Orchestra of Estonian
Academy of Music
Võru Symphony Orchestra (Estonia)
Pärnu City Symphony Orchestra (Estonia)
Tartu Vanemuine Musical Theatre (Estonia)
The 21st Century Orchestra (Estonia, including tours to Germany and Luxembourg in 2004)
Latvian National Symphony Orchestra
Sinfonietta Rīga (Latvia)
Krasnoyarsk Academic Symphony Orchestra (Russia)
Yaroslavl Academic Symphony Orchestra (Russia)
Moscow Helikon Opera
Orchestra
St. Petersburg Youth Symphony Orchestra (Russia)
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra (Finland)
Vaasa City Orchestra (Finland)
Kymi Sinfonietta (Finland)
Erfurt Theater (Germany)
Erfurt Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany)
Obuda Danubia Orchestra (Hungary)
Rennes Opéra (France)
Angers-Nantes
Opéra (France)
Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne (France)
Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire (France)
Sinfonia Nord (Iceland)
Sofia Opera and Ballet (Bulgaria)
Burgas State Opera (Bulgaria)
Varna State Opera (Bulgaria)
National Chamber Ensemble "Kyiv Soloists" (Ukraine)
National Ensemble of Soloists "Kievska Kamerata" (Ukraine)
Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra
Kaunas State Musical Theatre (Lithuania)
Kaunas Symphony Orchestra (Lithuania)
Klaipeda State Musical Theatre Orchestra (Lithuania)
Panevežys Musical Theatre (Lithuania)
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Belarus
State Radio Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Belarus
State Academic Ballet and Opera Bolshoi Theatre of the Republic of Belarus