Conductor
Vello Pähn
The Estonian-born opera and ballet conductor Vello Pähn finished his studies in St. Petersburg under Maestro Mariss Jansons. In the early stages of his career, Vello Pähn’s close collaboration with the legendary dancer/choreographer Rudolf Nureyev and the choreographer John Neumeier led to invitations from the world’s leading theatres and ballet companies. His command of the standard ballet repertoire, Cinderella, Swan Lake, Nutcracker and Onegin made him a popular guest at the biggest European opera houses for over three decades.
In addition to countless performances in France and all major opera houses in Scandinavia, Maestro Pähn has been frequently invited to many renowned European opera houses, including La Scala, Semperoper Dresden, the Berlin, Munich and Hamburg State Operas, the Leipzig opera house, as well as the Vienna State Opera, San Carlo in Naples, the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki and the National Opera in Amsterdam. In spring 2026 he will make his debut in London at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden conducting the ballet Giselle.
From 2012 to 2019, Vello Pähn served as chief conductor and Artistic Director of the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn. His premieres there included Gounod's Faust and Romeo et Juliette, Wagner's Tannhäuser and The Flying Dutchman, Cardillac (Hindemith), Die Zauberflöte (Mozart), Arabella (Strauss), Aida (Verdi) and Bernstein’s Candide among others. Nowadays Vello Pähn is equally in demand as an opera conductor and has guested at the Berlin State Opera with Donizetti’s L’Eisir d’Amore and the Paris Opera in Robert Wilson’s production of Madama Butterfly among others. He made his debut at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland with The Flying Dutchman and returned there with Gounod's Faust.
