Studied contemporary composition at the music academies in Vienna and Tallinn.
Works as a freelance composer.
Teaches electroacoustic composition and orchestration at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.
Has worked in a wide range of genres, from commissions for large symphony orchestras to electroacoustic installations, theatre and film music.
Has been commissioned and performed by, among others, Phoenix Ensemble (Switzerland), Ensemble U: (Estonia), Ensemble Resonabilis (Estonia), New Paths Ensemble (USA), Orchestrutopica (Portugal), the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Symphony Orchestra, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Quasar Saxophone Quartet (Canada), the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra with Risto Joost, and the Pärnu Festival Orchestra with Paavo Järvi.
His works have been premiered at the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Musikverein in Vienna, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, the Gulbenkian Arts Centre in Lisbon and City University of New York—as well as in a random village in the Czech Republic, at the crossroads of Rüütli Street in Pärnu (a pleasant seaside town in Estonia), in a former seaplane hangar in Tallinn… and in many other respectable places.
Has been active as a film-music composer. His scores for films by Veiko Õunpuu have accompanied films that were screened at festivals worldwide.
His most important awards include the European Composer’s Prize at the Young Euro Classic festival in 2005 and First Prize in the under-30 category at the International Rostrum of Composers in Paris in 2007, both for the orchestral work JenZeits; Best Original Music at the Premiers Plans Festival in Angers for Autumn Ball; the Composer Prize of the Estonian Music Days festival in 2012 and the Prince Pierre of Monaco Music Composition Prize in 2014 for Swan Bone City; second place at the International Rostrum of Composers in Wrocław in 2016 for Vesi ise (Water Itself), for mixed choir and fixed media; the Music Prize of the Estonian Music Council in 2016; the Lepo Sumera Award for Composition in 2021; the LHV New Composition Award for Synlith in 2023; and the Veljo Tormis Fund Scholarship in 2025.
Photo by Anneli Ivaste