A committed advocate for contemporary Baltic and Nordic music, Olari Elts has built an acclaimed discography featuring works by many of the region’s leading composers. His recording of Kaija Saariaho’s "True Fire" with Radio France received the 2024 Gramophone Award for Contemporary Recording, further highlighting his artistic excellence in contemporary music. Recent releases include an album devoted to the music of award-winning Norwegian composer Øyvind Torvund in collaboration with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as recordings of works by Kalevi Aho with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Kymi Sinfonietta for BIS Records. His recordings also include Heino Eller’s "Symphonic Poems" and Violin Concerto with Baiba Skride and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, alongside a celebrated series of recordings devoted to Erkki-Sven Tüür on the Ondine label with Tapiola Sinfonietta, including the Viola Concerto with Lawrence Power, Symphony No. 5, and the accordion concerto "Prophecy" with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Further highlights of his discography include the violin concertos of Borgström and Shostakovich with Eldbjørg Hemsing and the Wiener Symphoniker, and a critically acclaimed recording of Brahms-inspired works by Detlev Glanert and Luciano Berio with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

Olari Elts has made his mark in opera, having conducted titles such as ‘Eugene Onegin’, Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’ and ‘Idomeneo’, and Berlioz’s ‘La Damnation de Faust’. Crossing genres, Olari Elts toured to the Konzerthaus Berlin with a theatre-concert production which combined Mendelssohn and Shakespeare’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ with the Tallinn-based theatre company NO99. For Bernstein’s 100th anniversary, Olari Elts conducted the film ‘On the Waterfront’ with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. Last season, he revived the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra’s acclaimed semi-staged production of ‘Macbeth’, in collaboration with the Estonian Drama Theatre.

Olari Elts was Principal Guest Conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra from 2007-2020 and held the same position at Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra from 2011-2014. He was Artistic Advisor of the Kymi Sinfonietta from 2018-2022 and of the Orchestre National de Bretagne from 2006-2011, Principal Guest Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from 2007-2010, and Chief Conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra from 2001-2006.

SEASON 2026/27