Kuno Areng

(23. July 1929 – 8. December 2017)

Choir Conductor, Music Educator – A Legend in Estonian Choral Music.

Kuno Areng was one of the most prominent leaders of Estonian choral music, significantly shaping its development. Through his long-term pedagogical work, many highly respected choir conductors and music directors emerged under his guidance.

Kuno Areng began his musical studies in Rakvere and, during his military service on the Black Sea, graduated from the Sukhumi Music School in 1952 with a specialization in piano. He studied choral conducting at the Tallinn State Conservatory under Gustav Ernesaks (1959) and completed an assistantship at the Leningrad Conservatory under Elizaveta Kudryavtseva (1965).

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From 1966 to 1990, Kuno Areng served as conductor of the Estonian Radio and Television Mixed Choir (RAM), performing concerts in many countries, including Germany, Finland, Sweden, Italy, and the USA, and appearing in prestigious concert halls such as the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Carnegie Hall in New York. He also led the National Choir Conductors’ Mixed Choir from 1961 to 2000, the Tallinn Male Choir of the Estonian Male Singers’ Society from 1989, and was chief conductor of the Academy of Sciences Male Choir. From 1962 to 1993, he conducted the Tallinn Chamber Choir, serving as chief conductor from 1978 to 1993 and later as principal guest conductor. From 1965 onward, he repeatedly served as general director of the Estonian Song Festivals.

His pedagogical work was equally remarkable. He was a lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre from 1962, serving as head of the Department of Choral Conducting from 1985 to 1992. He became a professor in 1982 and was named emeritus professor in 2003.

Kuno Areng’s contributions were widely recognized with numerous honors, including the title of Estonian SSR People’s Artist (1974), the Gustav Ernesaks Choral Music Award (1994), the Estonian Cultural Endowment Annual Award (1999), the Order of the White Star, III Class (2000), the Estonian Republic Cultural Award (2003), the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Estonian National Culture Foundation (2009), and the Medal of Tallinn (2014).

An episode of “Tähelaev” featuring Kuno Areng (2012) is available in the Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) archive.

The texts have been compiled using materials from Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) and the Estonian Music Information Centre (EMIC).