{"id":3308,"date":"2026-10-03T13:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T10:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee-staging\/en\/conductors\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T16:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T13:01:12","slug":"conductors","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/en\/conductors\/","title":{"rendered":"Conductors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"etam-lead wp-block-paragraph\">Over the decades, ETAM\u2019s artistic identity has been shaped by distinguished Estonian choral conductors. Today the choir is led by Chief Conductor Andrus Siimon and Conductor Igor Nikiforov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group etam-person is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n  \n  <div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide are-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n    \n    <div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:38%\">\n      \n      <figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large etam-person-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Peadirigent-Andrus-Siimon-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Chief Conductor Andrus Siimon\"\/><\/figure>\n      \n    <\/div>\n    \n    \n    <div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:62%\">\n      <h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andrus Siimon<\/h2>\n      <p class=\"etam-role has-etam-blue-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\">Chief Conductor<\/p>\n      <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andrus Siimon graduated in choral conducting from Tallinn Pedagogical Institute as a student of Ants Soots and later from the Estonian Academy of Music in J\u00fcri Rent\u2019s conducting class.<\/p>\n      <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He has been associated with ETAM as a conductor since 1991 and has again served as Chief Conductor since 2009. His work extends well beyond ETAM: he is Chief Conductor of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Women\u2019s Choir and the Virumaa Youth Male Choir, and has long worked with the Estonian National Male Choir as a singer and chorus master.<\/p>\n      <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An important part of Andrus Siimon\u2019s work has been training new conductors. He teaches choral conducting at the Tallinn School of Music and Ballet (MUBA). He has also conducted at national and youth song festivals and contributed to the development of Estonia\u2019s choral movement through several professional organisations.<\/p>\n      <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His work has been recognised with the Cultural Endowment of Estonia annual award, the Arvo Ratassepp Memorial Award and the Estonian Choral Association\u2019s Conductor of the Year title. The Estonian Academy of Sciences Women\u2019s Choir was named Women\u2019s Choir of the Year 2024, and Siimon was nominated for the Estonian Choral Association\u2019s Conductor of the Year award in 2025.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    \n  <\/div>\n  \n<\/div>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group etam-person is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n  \n  <div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide are-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n    \n    <div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:62%\">\n      <h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Igor Nikiforov<\/h2>\n      <p class=\"etam-role has-etam-blue-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\">Conductor<\/p>\n      <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Igor Nikiforov graduated in choral conducting from the Georg Ots Tallinn Music School under Andrus Siimon and continued his studies at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Professor Ants Soots\u2019s class.<\/p>\n      <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nikiforov has worked as a conductor of ETAM since 2009. For many years his professional work has also been closely connected with the Estonian National Male Choir, where he works as a singer and chorus master. He has prepared major vocal-symphonic works as chorus master and has conducted projects with both the Estonian National Male Choir and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.<\/p>\n      <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nikiforov has previously conducted the Estonian Academy of Sciences Women\u2019s Choir, the Virumaa Youth Male Choir and ETAM\u2019s senior choir. Since 2023 he has also conducted the Patika Village Choir.<\/p>\n      <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a young conductor, Nikiforov received recognition at several conducting competitions, including special prizes from the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Estonian Male Choir Association. His long collaboration with ETAM combines professional choral experience with a deep knowledge of the male-choir tradition.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    \n    <div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:38%\">\n      \n      <figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large etam-person-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Igor-Nikiforov.jpg\" alt=\"Conductor Igor Nikiforov\"\/><\/figure>\n      \n    <\/div>\n    \n  <\/div>\n  \n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the decades, ETAM\u2019s artistic identity has been shaped by distinguished Estonian choral conductors. Today the choir is led by Chief Conductor Andrus Siimon and Conductor Igor Nikiforov. Andrus Siimon Chief Conductor Andrus Siimon graduated in choral conducting from Tallinn Pedagogical Institute as a student of Ants Soots and later from the Estonian Academy of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":3296,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-en-conductors","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3308","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3308"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3349,"href":"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3308\/revisions\/3349"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etam.ee\/ee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}