Paavo Järvi is one of today’s leading conductors. Since 2019, he has served as Music Director of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and, since 2004, as Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. From the 2028/29 season, he will become Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Each season culminates in performances and conducting masterclasses at the Pärnu Music Festival, founded by Järvi in 2011. The festival and its resident ensemble, the Estonian Festival Orchestra, have earned international acclaim through acclaimed performances and award-winning recordings. In autumn 2026, the orchestra returns to Asia for a second tour of South Korea before making its debut in China.
The 2026/27 season marks Paavo Järvi’s eighth year as Music Director of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, highlighted by the continuation of the orchestra’s acclaimed Mahler cycle with performances, touring and new Alpha Classics recordings, alongside a season-long tribute to Beethoven in his anniversary year.
Now in his third decade as Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Paavo Järvi has performed and recorded benchmark performances of the complete orchestral works of Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms and this season focuses on an ongoing cycle dedicated to Schubert’s symphonies.
A highly sought-after guest conductor, Järvi appears this season with the Orchestre National de France, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He also maintains close artistic relationships with the orchestras he formerly led, including the Orchestre de Paris, Frankfurt Radio Symphony and NHK Symphony Orchestra.
A prolific recording artist for more than three decades, Järvi has built a discography of over 130 recordings, spanning repertoire from Brahms and Beethoven to Shostakovich and contemporary music. His recording of Sibelius’s Cantatas won a Grammy Award.
Additional honours include Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Estonian State Cultural Award, Order of the White Star (Estonia), Order of the Rising Sun (Japan), the Hindemith Prize and Sibelius Medal.
Paavo Järvi has announced the launch of a new performance platform, dedicated to showcasing and promoting soloists at the start of their international careers. Presented as part of the annual Pärnu Music Festival, the Young Talents initiative reinforces Järvi’s commitment to professional mentorship and support of the next generation…..
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Highlights include a continuation of the Mahler cycle, a special tribute to Beethoven in the 200th anniversary year, and a Prokofiev “exchange” with Gianandrea Noseda and the Zurich Opera House. Wayne Marshall and Khatia Buniatishvili feature as season “Focus Artists” and Swiss composer Dieter Ammann, is this year’s “Creative Chair”. ….
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One of Japan’s highest honours, conferred by the Cabinet Office as part of the Spring 2026 Imperial Decorations, the award recognizes Paavo Järvi’s outstanding contributions to music and his role in strengthening international cultural ties ….
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Paavo Järvi has been appointed Chief Conductor & Artistic Advisor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, succeeding current Principal Conductor Edward Gardner at the start of the 2028/29 season. With an initial five-year contract ….
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The 2026 Pärnu Music Festival marks 35 years of renewed Estonian Independence with a programme celebrating nature, international talent and the next generation.
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Credo is the title of Paavo Järvi’s new recording with the Estonian Festival Orchestra, recorded live at this summer’s Pärnu Music Festival and featuring ten of Arvo Pärt’s iconic works, including the world premiere recording of Silouette, dedicated to and premiered by Paavo Järvi in 2010 and Credo, the work famously premiered by his father Neeme, in 1968. ….
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The Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich celebrates the start of its 7th season with Music Director Paavo Järvi this September, with a continued focus on the complete Mahler Symphony Cycle and a tribute to Swiss-French composer Arthur Honneger on the 70th anniversary of his death. ….
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On 14 March Alpha Classics releases Paavo Järvi and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich’s new recording of Mahler Symphony No. 5, marking the start of a project that has been years in the making. Long admired for his powerfully intimate interpretation ….
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This year’s programme commences with a special Järvi Academy concert at the Arvo Pärt Centre (15 July) before travelling south for 10 days of concerts in Pärnu (16 – 25 July) led by Paavo Järvi and family.
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As Paavo and The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie now prepare for the final celebrations of their 20th anniversary artistic partnership, RCA / Sony Classical releases Volume 2 of the Haydn project, coinciding with concerts in Hamburg and Bremen and an extensive tour of Asia. …
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The season opens with a programme introducing this year’s creative chair, Anna Thorvaldsdottir and the “primeval sonic landscape” of her 2022 orchestral work Archora, which is partnered with Stravinsky’s 1919 Firebird Suite and Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, with soloist and season Focus Artist Víkingur Ólafsson …
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The Pärnu Music Festival has always been about family and, in addition to concerts and masterclasses led by Paavo, Kristjan and Neeme Järvi, this year’s edition welcomes two families of Estonian composers and musicians, as well an extended family of international guests who flock to Pärnu each summer to be part of the annual reunion. …
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January 2024 Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra return to home base in Pärnu on the Baltic Coast to prepare for their third European tour which takes them to Tallinn, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Zürich, Vienna and Munich …
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Hot on the heels of winning the public vote for Gramophone “Orchestra of the Year” Award, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Paavo Järvi reunite in December for the next installment of their Haydn London Symphonies ….
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For their latest recording on Alpha Classics, Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra celebrate composers from Estonia and Poland. Two nations closely connected by their history and the corridor imposed on them by 20th century occupation, which resulted in strong musical ties. ….
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A new journey exploring Haydn’s London symphonies. Since their first concert together in 1995, Paavo Järvi and The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (DKAM) have impressed audiences with their fresh and innovative approach to in-depth projects and recordings of the complete orchestral works ….
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This month Alpha Classics releases Paavo Järvi and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich’s first recording of Bruckner, captured live in concert in January 2022, during Järvi’s third season as Music Director. Symphony No. 7 is the first of three Bruckner releases ….
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Paavo Järvi celebrates his 60th birthday on 30th December in concert with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. The celebrations continue in Tallinn on 1 January with a concert broadcast nationally on Estonian TV, followed by a multitude of highlights to look forward to in 2023.
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The Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich AG has announced a five year contract extension with Music Director Paavo Järvi, who will now lead the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich until July 2029 at home in the recently renovated, iconic Tonhalle and on tour internationally.
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This summer celebrates the reunion of the Järvi family after a three year hiatus. Neeme Järvi returns to Estonia to celebrate his 85th birthday year and conducts the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra in the opening concert; Paavo Järvi directs the Estonian Festival Orchestra in four concerts
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Diapason d’or de l’année awarded to Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5. The complete Tchaikovsky cycle with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich released by Alpha Classics to coincide with the reopening of the historic Tonhalle …
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Paavo Järvi has long been recognised as the musicians’ musician, evidenced through his close association with the key orchestras he works with. Following the success of Deutsche Grammophon’s recent release of the complete Schmidt symphonies …
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Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra’s second album on Alpha Classics is dedicated to the music of Erkki-Sven Tüür and features recordings of three works recorded live in concert in Estonia between 2016 and 2019. The album is released this March to celebrate Tüür’s 60th birthday.
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Paavo Järvi makes his début as Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich on 2 October …
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In its third season at the Tonhalle Maag, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich (TOZ) will perform under the baton of its new Chief Conductor and Music Director
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Paavo Järvi has been Artistic Director of The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen since 2004 and their 15 year partnership is celebrated this year with the release of Brahms’ Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 on the RCA Red Seal Label …
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Sony Classical Release: On 18 January Sony Classical releases the long awaited box set of the complete Sibelius Symphony cycle with Paavo Järvi and the Orchestre de Paris …
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Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra make their debut tour of Europe in January 2018 and release first CD on Alpha Classics on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Estonian Independence.
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Currently in his second season as Chief Conductor of the NHK SymphonyOrchestra, Paavo Järvi brings Japan’s leading ensemble on tour to Europe this spring as a part of the orchestra’s major 90th birthday celebrations with concerts …
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At the 54th RECORD ACADEMY AWARD in Tokyo today, Paavo Järvi was announced as the recipient of two prestigious prizes: The Complete Nielsen Symphonies recorded with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony was voted “Gand Prix (Silver Prize): Best Symphony Recording” and his second CD release as Chief Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra featuring Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote, Till Eulenspiegel & Der Rosenkavalier Suite was voted “Best Orchestral Recording” …
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The NHK Symphony Orchestra has announced today (6 October) that they will extend its contract with Paavo Järvi as Chief Conductor for an additional 3 years, until August 2021 …
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Marking the occasion the syndicate of the French critic circle will award Paavo Järvi the prize of Musical Personality of the Year in recognition of his work with the Orchestre de Paris since 2010, in a ceremony which will take place in Paris …
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France’s leading music magazine – Diapason – has chosen Paavo Järvi as “Artist of the Year” at their annual awards ceremony which took place in Paris last night, just two months after the Estonian conductor was also named “Artist of the Year” by Gramophone Magazine in London …
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Tonight, at the Gramophone Magazine’s annual awards ceremony Editor-in-Chief, James Jolly, announced that Paavo Järvi has been voted by the public as Artist of the Year …
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The governors of the Sibelius Society have elected to award the prestigious Sibelius Medal to the Estonian Paavo Järvi, Musical Director and Chief Conductor of the Orchestre de Paris …
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