The Estonian Television Girls’ Choir grew out of the children’s singing studio created by Aarne Saluveer and Eve Viilup at the ETV children’s program editorial office, the founder and music director of which from 1990 to 2004 was the choir’s conductor Aarne Saluveer. Today, the choir consists of forty girls aged 13-20, most of whom have a musical education and previous choral singing experience, many of whom also have the ability to play an instrument.
The choir’s repertoire includes sacred and secular music from different eras, folk music arrangements with effective movement, modern pop music and jazz programs, and large vocal symphonic forms. A very important part of the choir’s repertoire is the work of Veljo Tormis, which has been performed at several author’s concerts in Estonia and abroad.
The development of the choir has been stimulated by collaboration with many renowned musicians and composers such as Arvo Pärt, Tõnu Kõrvits, Urmas Sisask, Roxanna Panufnik, Valeri Petrov, Pärt Uusberg, Tauno Aints, Kadri Voorand, Rasmus Puur and Karin Kuulpak. The choir’s high-quality overall sound has been contributed to by top Estonian vocal pedagogues Ester Lepa, Ludmilla Issakova, Marika Eensalu, Nadia Kurem and Eha Pärg. The choir’s melodious sound has also been praised by José Carreras and Brian Eno.
The choir has shared the stage with top Estonian choirs and orchestras and performed under the direction of Neeme Järvi, Eri Klas, Andres Mustonen, Eric Whitacre and Paul Hillier. Alongside them, the choir has enjoyed performing with Imogen Heap, Ola Onabule, Tõnis Mägi, Ivo Linna, Villu Veski, Dave Benton and many other renowned musicians. Under the direction of Aarne Saluveer, the world premiere of “Peace Upon You, Jerusalem” written by A. Pärt for the ETV Girls’ Choir was performed in New York. In 2010, A. Pärt’s Symphony No. 3 “Our Garden” was performed as part of the Nargen Festival to celebrate the composer’s birthday.
The choir has been a welcome performer at prestigious festivals and concert stages around the world: Avery Fisher Hall Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, World Choral Music Symposium in Argentina, Shanghai Spring Music Festival in China, Golden Gate Festival in San Francisco, Cheltenham Festival and Roundhouse in London in England, La Fabbrica del Canto in Legnano, Polyfollia in France, St. Petersburg International Choir Festival, Sympaatti in Finland, Choir Festival “Let the Future Sing” in Sweden, Folk Baltica Festival, European Youth Choir Festival in Switzerland, Singapore Ministry of Education Arts Annual Conference and Singapore Youth Festival, Nargen Festival, etc.