The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir was founded in 1981 by Tõnu Kaljuste.

It was first formed as the amateur chamber choir Ellerhein, founded by Tõnu Kaljuste's father Heino Kaljuste (1925 - 1989) in 1966 on the 15th anniversary of the children's choir Ellerhein. In 1971 Tõnu Kaljuste became the conductor of the chamber choir Ellerhein, on the basis of which in 1981 he formed the full-time professional Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC). Tõnu Kaljuste was holding the post of the choir's principal conductor and artistic director until the end of the 2000/01 concert season, his successor is Paul Hillier.

EPCC has worked with a number of guest conductors, including Sir David Willcocks, Paul Hillier, Helmuth Rilling, Claudio Abbado, Anders Öhrwall, Jon Washburn, Eric Ericson, Ward Swingle, Ivan Fisher, and has performed with many distinguished artists.

At the 1991 Takarazuka Chamber Choir Competition in Japan the choir won three gold medals and was awarded the Grand Prix. Since then the choir has not been envolved in any competition, the main activities having been concerts at home and abroad, and recordings under different recording and broadcasting companies.

Concert tours have taken the choir to the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and majority of European countries. During last few years the approximate number of concerts with one program has diminished to 2, the approximate number of concerts in a year has been 62. The easy conclusion is that the choir prepares about 31 different programs a year.

EPCC's repertoire includes Gregorian chants, music of the Baroque era as well as the 20th century. Its concerts comprise compositions by Bach and works of contemporary composers. Estonian music has always played an important role in the choir's programs. Have a look at the repertoire - the most essential part of it can be seen there.

In the '96/97 concert season the choir was active in two larger concert series: "Chamber Philharmony", based mostly on music by Joseph Haydn and Benjamin Britten, and "Vox Nova" the main subject of which was Arnold Schoenberg's music. The "Chamber Philharmony"-series was held by Tõnu Kaljuste, the artistic director of the "Vox Nova"-series was Olari Elts, the choir's guest conductor in the '96/97 season.
In the '97/98 concert season the guest conductor of the choir was Toomas Siitan, the artistic director of concert series "Vox Antiqua", consisting of medieval music from Magister Perotinus to Melchior Franck. Another series, "Leaders and Gods", was carried out by Tõnu Kaljuste. This one consisted of five operas (concert performances) from different ages, starting with medieval Ludus Danielis (directed by Luchia Nigohossian (BG/FR)) and ending with Nixon in China by J. Adams.
In the '98/99 concert season the topical concert series was "Vox Romanticum" (sorry, Latinists!), consisting of different countries' romantic music: German music was conducted by Tarmo Vaask, American by Dale Warland, Scandinavian by Timo Nuoranne (A page in Finnish!) and English music by Paul Hillier.
In the 1999/2000 concert season the main events were concert tours to Israel (with "The New Israel Chamber Ensemble"), Australia (with Australian Chamber Orchestra) and the USA. In spring period a concert series of four, called "Vox Septem Saeculi", was carried out by the choir's young choir master, Mikk Üleoja.
In the '00/01 concert season the topical concert series was "Bach-Beethoven", held by Tõnu Kaljuste, consisting of four concerts representing King's Cantatas and Mass in B minor by Johann Sebastian Bach and Kaisr's Cantatas and Mass in C major by Ludwig van Beethoven. The second half of the season was marked by the choir's 20th anniversary, culminating with the birthday concert on the 1st of July.

Detailed programs of both past and coming concerts can be found while looking at the schedule.

In addition to concert performances the choir has recorded for different European radio stations and released several CD's under different labels. The Grammy Committee has noticed the choir's works several times: at the 38th Grammy Awards (Oct.'94 - Sept.'95) Tõnu Kaljuste was nominated for the Best Choral Performance (Category 81) as a conductor with A. Pärt's Te Deum; at the 39th Grammy Awards (Oct.'95 - Sept.'96) Manfred Eicher was nominated as the Classical Producer of The Year (Category 77) with three records released by ECM, among them A. Pärt's Litany and E.-S. Tüür's Crystallisatio; the record Kanon Pokajanen raised two nominees at the 41th Grammy Awards (Oct.'97 - Sept.'98): Arvo Pärt as the composer of the Best Classical Contemporary Composition (Category 92) and Manfred Eicher (with this and four other records) as the Classical Producer of The Year (Category 77). More thorough information about mentioned above and other choir's records can be found looking at the discography.

Both the artistic and managing personalities of the choir will be introduced while looking at the staff. All singers of EPCC through its whole history can be found at the choir's chronology.

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