Cellist Teet Järvi has Died, Aged 67

Formerly principal cello of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Järvi has passed away following a short severe illness

Raised in a musical family, the Estonian cellist Teet Järvi was born in 1958, the second son of conductor Vallo Järvi. 

Teet Jarvi studied at the Tallinn Music High School and the Tallinn State Conservatoire with Laine Leichter and Peeter Paemurru. Järvi was also mentored in Moscow by Natalia Shahhovskaja, Mikhail Homitser, and Ivan Monighetti.

In 1974, he won First Prize at the International Cello Competition in Czechoslovakia; he was also awarded First Prize at the National (1981) and Baltic competition (1976).

Between 1982 and 1990, he served as the first cello in the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. From 1993, he started working in Finland playing with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä.

During this time, he also worked with the FINEST string quartet and as a cello teacher at the Lahti Conservatoire.

Järvi performed solo with numerous orchestras and gave concerts with the Tallinn String Quartet and the Baltic Trio across Europe and the US. As a solo reitalist, he performed in several cities of the former Soviet Union and abroad.

Additionally, he was an annual participant at the Pärnu Music Festival, giving numerous concerts with his wife Mari Järvi and five children, all of whom are musicians. 

His life’s work was captured on the album “Estonian Cello” in 2008, when he recorded a collection of Estonian cello music with Vardo Rumessen.

“Rest in peace my dear father Teet!” pianist Mihkel Järvi wrote on Facebook. 

“My first great role model and inspiration, because of whom I started playing the cello when I went to his concert at age 5,” shared cellist Marcel Johannes Kits. “Will never forget her kindness, politeness, warmth and her insanely beautiful tone. Such a person can only be in heaven. Heartfelt condolences to the family.”

“Järvi was one of Estonia's most prominent cellists, whose playing was characterized by a great convergence of musicality and technical virtuosity,” added the Estonian Performers’ Association. “His teacher Peeter Paemurru said: ‘When Teet Järvi played, his intonation was enormously beautiful, very rich — such tone and such a convergence of different talents has not often been seen in Estonia.’”

Our condolences to Mr. Teet Järvi’s family, friends, students, and colleagues.