Musicologist, producer and pianist, ECU member since 1990Born on 04.11.1953
Madis Kolk graduated from Tallinn Music High School in 1972. From 1972 to 1974, he studied at the Tallinn State Conservatory under Heljo Sepp, and from 1974 to 1978 at the Moscow Conservatory, where he continued his postgraduate performance studies from 1980 to 1983. His teachers were initially Lev Vlassenko and subsequently Eliso Virsaladze.
He participated in Estonian national and all-Union piano competitions, receiving a diploma at the Estonian National Piano Competition in 1973. From 1978 to 1980, he served in the Soviet Army.
Between 1978 and 1986, he performed as a solo pianist and chamber musician in Estonia and throughout the Soviet Union, including at the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. He also made recordings for Estonian Radio.
From 1982 to 1988, he taught music history and piano at the Tallinn State Conservatory.
He also worked as a music journalist and editor:
- 1980–1981 – Music Editor of the newspaper Sirp ja Vasar.
- 1982–1988 – Music Editor of the magazine Teater. Muusika. Kino.
- 1989–1990 – Culture Editor of the newspaper Eesti Ekspress.
- 1990–1992 – Executive Editor of the newspaper Eesti Aeg.
- 1995–1996 – Music Editor of the newspaper Eesti Päevaleht.
He has published articles and interviews and produced radio and television programmes. He has undertaken further professional training in arts management in Austria, the Netherlands and the United States.
Positions at Eesti Kontsert:
- 1989–2005 – Producer.
- 2012–2017 – Chief Producer.
- 2017–2026 – Contract Producer.
Major Professional Achievements
At Eesti Kontsert, Madis Kolk has produced more than 2,000 concerts, initiating and coordinating performances by numerous Estonian soloists, conductors, ensembles and orchestras both in Estonia and abroad. He has also organised numerous concerts featuring international artists for Estonian audiences.
He has maintained a long-standing professional collaboration with editor and co-producer Tiiu Valper.
Founding and Directing Festivals and Competitions:
- 1991 – Co-founder of the NYYD International Contemporary Music Festival together with Erkki-Sven Tüür; festival producer until 2005 and Co-Artistic Director from 2005 to 2011.
- 1991 – Founder of the Con brio competition-festival for young performers; producer until 2004.
- 1996 – Founder of the international Harpsichord Days festival (Klavessiinipäevad); co-producer until 2004.
- 1998 – Co-founder of the international Klaver Piano Festival; producer until 2004.
- 1999 – Co-initiator and producer of the Sünnisõnad festival.
- 2016–2017 – Initiator of the EK:Labor competition for young music producers.
Commissioning and Premieres of New Works
Kolk has initiated or facilitated the commissioning of approximately 200 new works by Estonian composers.
Notable commissions include:
- Chamber operas by Raimo Kangro, Alo Mattiisen, Alo Põldmäe, Lepo Sumera, Mari Vihmand and Märt-Matis Lill.
- Ülo Krigul’s opera Luigeluulinn (Swan Bone City).
- Veljo Tormis’s cantata Sünnisõnad (Birth Words).
- Peeter Vähi’s oratorio Müstilisel Kaydara-maal (In the Mystical Land of Kaydara) and cantata Ülim vaikus (Ultimate Silence).
- Helena Tulve’s orchestral work Sula (Thaw).
- Rein Rannap’s Taevane ja maine (Heavenly and Earthly).
- Lepo Sumera’s Südameasjad (Matters of the Heart).
- René Eespere’s oratorio Ante lucem (Before the Light).
Arvo Pärt and Robert Wilson’s Adam’s Passion
Kolk initiated and produced Adam’s Passion, a collaborative work by Arvo Pärt and Robert Wilson.
The production premiered in May 2015 at the Noblessner Foundry in Tallinn, attracting extensive international media attention.
Musical America wrote on 19 May 2015:
“The combination of Wilson’s brilliant lighting design, meditative sense of time and Pärt’s floating textures proves hypnotic – a successful collaboration between two unique artists.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung observed on 18 May 2015:
“The interplay of stage and music created a drama of highly charged states of anticipation.”
Two films, Adam’s Passion and The Lost Paradise, were produced from the stage production by the renowned German media company Accentus Music in collaboration with Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) and Eesti Kontsert, with Kolk serving as co-producer. The films have been broadcast on international television channels and screened at festivals, reaching tens of millions of viewers worldwide, including audiences of the BBC, NHK and Arte.
BBC Music Magazine wrote on 17 December 2015:
“…the combination creates an utterly hypnotic, enriching experience.”
In March 2018, three sold-out performances of Adam’s Passion took place at the Konzerthaus Berlin, attracting considerable international critical attention.
Theater der Zeit wrote on 2 April 2018:
“The miracle of this evening lies in the images and sounds of silence that meet here, and in the magnificent orchestra, choir, soloists and performers who bring them to life. The meeting of Arvo Pärt and Robert Wilson proved to be a fortunate one.”
Der Tagesspiegel observed on 29 March 2018:
“Pärt’s mystical Christianity … finds its visual reflection in this heaven of theatrical gods.”
In spring 2023, two sold-out performances of Adam’s Passion took place in Rome on 31 March and 1 April at the La Nuvola Convention Centre, as part of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma programme. The performances again attracted extensive media attention, both in Italy and internationally.
Bachtrack wrote on 2 April 2023:
“Pärt speaks of Adam’s painful search for light, and this is precisely what Wilson seeks to portray. The result is incredibly natural: it almost seems as though Adam’s Passion had been conceived together as a single work, rather than using four musical compositions combined in a non-narrative way.”
Internationally Renowned Performers and Ensembles Presented in Estonia
Kolk has initiated and coordinated numerous performances by internationally acclaimed orchestras, ensembles, composers and soloists for Estonian audiences.
Orchestras:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London (conductor Charles Dutoit); Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (Zubin Mehta); Orchestre National de France (Kurt Masur); Czech National Symphony Orchestra; Japan Philharmonic Orchestra; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne; Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra; Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen; SWR Symphony Orchestra; and Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.
Ensembles and Chamber Groups:
London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Juilliard Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet, Arditti Quartet, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Collegium Vocale Gent, London Baroque, Musica Antiqua Köln and Il Giardino Armonico.
Visiting Composers:
Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gavin Bryars, Tristan Murail and Mark-Anthony Turnage.
Soloists:
Evelyn Glennie, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Roger Woodward, Stephen Kovacevich, Louis Lortie, Angela Hewitt, Marc-André Hamelin, Arcadi Volodos, Piotr Anderszewski, Nikolai Lugansky, Håkan Hardenberger and Gidon Kremer.
Promoting Estonian Music Internationally
Kolk has initiated and coordinated numerous international projects showcasing Estonian music and performances by Estonian musicians and ensembles abroad.
Selected Major Projects:
- 1993, Australia – Estonian music featured as the main theme of the Sydney Spring Festival.
- 2001, Sweden – Tour by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ERSO).
- 2001, Poland – NYYD Ensemble’s performance at the Warsaw Autumn Festival.
- 2003, Germany – NYYD Ensemble’s performance at the Berlin Philharmonie.
- 2014, China – Participation of Estonian musicians in a Baltic music festival, with more than 20 concerts in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and other major cities.
- 2015, Germany – Performance by Ensemble YXUS at the Nordwind Festival.
- 2016, China – Concert tour by Rein Rannap.
- 2017, Poland – Estonian music featured as the main theme of the Ogrody Muzyczne Festival in Warsaw.
- 2017, Austria – Performance by Ensemble U: at the Vienna Music Theatre Days.
He has also organised Estonian music projects in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the United States.
Kolk was one of the initiators and the Estonian producer of the international music exchange project Upbeat. Between 1999 and 2005, the project enabled young Estonian performers to give more than 50 concerts across the Baltic and Nordic countries.
Professional and Public Activities
Kolk has served on the boards and councils of numerous Estonian and international music and cultural organisations, including:
- Estonian Music Council.
- Estonian Composers’ Union.
- Estonian Music Festivals.
- Jeunesses Musicales Estonia.
- European Conference of Promoters of New Music.
- International Arts and Culture Subcommittee of the Open Society Foundations.
- Council of the Estonian National Culture Foundation.
- Council of the Music Endowment of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
- Artistic Council of Tallinn 2011 – European Capital of Culture.
He was a producer of the 4th World Forum of the International Music Council, held in 2011.
He has served on juries of Estonian and international competitions, including the architectural competition for the Arvo Pärt Centre and the musical theatre jury of the Laurence Olivier Awards, organised by the Society of London Theatre, in 2009–2010.
Awards and Honours
- 1982 and 1986 – Annual Awards of the newspaper Sirp ja Vasar.
- 1990 – Annual Award of the magazine Teater. Muusika. Kino.
- 1996 and 2005 – Awards of the Music Endowment of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
- 2006 – Order of the White Star, Fourth Class.
- 2015 – Award of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for promoting Estonian culture abroad.
- 2018 – Estonian Music Council Award for outstanding and significant contributions to musical life.