Jaan-Eik Tulve

Tulve has received the Order of the White Star, 5th Class, the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the Cultural Award of the Republic of Estonia.

• Name — Jaan-Eik Tulve • Born — 30 September 1967 • Birthplace — Tallinn, Estonia • Citizenship — Estonian • Education — Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Conservatoire de Paris • Occupation — Conductor, music educator • Known for — Founder and artistic director of Vox Clamantis • Spouse — Helena Tulve • Awards — Order of the White Star, 5th Class Order of Leopold Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Jaan-Eik Tulve was born in Tallinn on 30 September 1967. He graduated in choral conducting from the Estonian Academy of Music in 1991 and then continued his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris, receiving a diploma in Gregorian chant conducting in 1993. After his studies in Paris he worked as an assistant to Louis-Marie Vigne, whom the Estonian Music Information Centre describes as a major influence on his musical development. Tulve has also identified his work with Dom Daniel Saulnier of Solesmes Abbey as formative in his approach to Gregorian chant.

In 1992 Tulve became conductor of the Paris Gregorian Choir. In the following years he founded the ensemble Lac et Mel in Paris (1993), a female section of the Paris Gregorian Choir (1994), and in Tallinn the ensemble Vox Clamantis (1996). Since 1996 he has taught Gregorian chant at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. He has also led courses and workshops in Gregorian chant in a number of countries and has worked with monastic choirs and communities. Beyond his work with Vox Clamantis, Tulve has conducted the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Estonian National Male Choir, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, the Helsinki Chamber Choir and Hortus Musicus. Under his direction, Vox Clamantis developed from an ensemble initially focused on Gregorian chant into one known for combining chant, early polyphony and contemporary music. Tulve's ensemble has had a particularly close association with the music of Arvo Pärt. According to the Arvo Pärt Centre, this collaboration began in 1999, when Vox Clamantis combined Gregorian chant with Pärt's organ work Annum per annum in concert performance; Pärt later wrote Alleluia-Tropus specifically for the ensemble. Vox Clamantis also participated in the Grammy-winning recording of Pärt's Adam's Lament, issued under the direction of Tõnu Kaljuste. Tulve's recordings with Vox Clamantis have received strong critical attention. Reviewing the ensemble's ECM album Arvo Pärt: The Deer’s Cry, BBC Music Magazine awarded the recording five stars and singled out Tulve's ability to bring vibrancy and shape to Pärt's austere textures. Writing in The Guardian about the 2020 album Cyrillus Kreek: The Suspended Harp of Babel, Fiona Maddocks praised the atmospheric quality of the performances and the way Tulve and the ensemble gave full expression to Kreek's sacred music.

Tulve is married to the Estonian composer Helena Tulve.