Neeme Järvi was born on June 7, 1937 in Tallinn, Estonia, where his studies… Read Full Bio ↴Neeme Järvi was born on June 7, 1937 in Tallinn, Estonia, where his studies of music began. He continued in Leningrad Conservatoire under Nikolai Rabinowitz, Evgeny Mravinsky and others. Early in his career, he held posts with the Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra, today the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ERSO) and the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn. In 1971 he won the first prize in the International Conductors Competition at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
Järvi emigrated to the United States of America in 1980 and became an American citizen in 1987. In 1982, he became the principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (GSO), and during his tenure, the recording profile and reputation of the orchestra greatly increased. Järvi was also the Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) from 1990 until 2005, and is now its Music Director Emeritus. Since 2005, he is the Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO). In addition to his American post, he is the Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orchestra (RO)—The Hague Philharmonic, since September 2005.
As one of today’s leading conductors, his engagements around the globe have included: in Europe, all of London’s principal orchestras; the Berlin Philharmonic; the Bavarian, North German and Cologne Radio symphony orchestras; Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestre National de France and l’Orchestre de Paris’; Orchestra di Accademia di Santa Cecilia and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, to name a few. He appears each year with at least one major North American orchestra, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic; he is also a frequent guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. During the past few seasons, Maestro Järvi has returned to his musical roots in opera.
Neeme Järvi also holds titled positions as Conductor Laureate of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the First Principal Guest Conductor of the Japan Philharmonic (Tokyo), and was a past Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the U.K. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Aberdeen, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and the Wayne State University (Detroit). Järvi has been appointed Commander of the North Star Order by the King of Sweden.
As one of the world’s most recorded conductors, Neeme Järvi has amassed a distinguished recording repertoire that includes over than 400 discs on the Deutsche Grammophon, Chandos, BIS, Orfeo, EMI and BMG labels. With the DSO, he has recorded 36 critically acclaimed CDs for the British label Chandos. He is best known for his interpretations of Romantic and 20th century classical music, and he has championed the work of his fellow Estonians Eduard Tubin and Arvo Pärt (whose Credo he premiered in 1968). Most recently Neeme Järvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra have been awarded a Swedish Grammy for their recording of Aurora, Music from the Far North (Deutsche Grammophon).
Neeme Järvi and his wife Liilia have three children—conductors Paavo Järvi and Kristjan Järvi, and flutist Maarika Järvi; and for now six grandchildren.