Ants Soots Has Passed Away, the Preserver of Veljo Tormis’s Men’s Choral Works

During his years as chief conductor of the Estonian National Male Choir, in the early 2000s the choir recorded five albums of Veljo Tormis’s men’s choral music for the Alba label under his leadership. This has left a powerful and lasting mark.

Ants Soots began his music studies in Tartu and received his choral conducting diploma in 1983 while studying with Ants Üleoja. He conducted several choirs and taught choral conductors for many years at the Estonian Academy of Music. On multiple occasions, he served at the National Song Festival both as the artistic director of the entire event and as chief conductor of the male choirs.

The brightest milestone in Soots’s creative career was his time at the helm of the Estonian National Male Choir (1994–2005 and 2008–2011). This period also includes the Grammy Award presented to the choir in 2004 (for a recording of works by Sibelius conducted by Paavo Järvi, featuring the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and Ellerhein). During Ants Soots’s years as chief conductor, the male choir produced an extensive recording series of Veljo Tormis’s works for the Finnish label Alba Records.

Veljo Tormis himself regarded this as a very important achievement. He participated actively in the recording process and also created new arrangements of his works. On several occasions, he emphasized how much he appreciated the enthusiasm with which the choir undertook this work.

According to Ants Soots, the recording series was an important step in introducing Tormis’s men’s choral music to the world. Before this, his mixed-choir works were more widely known.

The recordings are available on major streaming platforms.

The Estonian National Male Choir recording series of music by Veljo Tormis, conducted by Ants Soots:
Vision of Estonia I (2001)
Vision of Estonia II (2002)
Vision of Estonia III (2004)
Visions Beyond Estonia (2007)
Vision of Kalevala (2009)

Photo: In 2000, at the celebration of Veljo Tormis’s 70th birthday, the Estonian National Male Choir sang in the garden of Kõrveaia under the direction of Ants Soots (Tõnu Tormis).