Estonian-born Jonas Tarm (b. 1994) has focused in recent years primarily on work as a composer for the concert stage and film. Various ensembles have commissioned him to write original music, including the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, New York Virtuoso Singers, Boston Musica Viva, the Estonian XXVII Song Festival, and the New York Youth Symphony. His work has also been performed worldwide by ensembles such as the Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn in Germany, Camerata Notturna Orchestra in New York, New World Symphony Players in Miami – among others.
Jonas recently released his first album There Was a Beginning – a soundtrack recorded by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra for Miida Chu’s film There Was a Beginning. Jonas also holds several music department credits in Hollywood films: Netflix production of Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Benjamin Cleary’s Apple TV production of Swan Song, and others directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Neil Burger.
Jonas’s compositions have received numerous awards including the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Foundation Morton Gould Composition Award, USA’s National YoungArts Award for Music Composition, and the Black Nights Film Festival’s Music Meets Film Award.
Jonas holds bachelor and master’s degrees with honours in composition from the New England Conservatory. Jonas is grateful for having been able to learn with several wise, kind, and tough teachers. They include: composition with Stratis Minakakis, Michael Gandolfi, Anthony Coleman, John Mallia, Robert Cogan, Matthew Hagle, and Mischa Zupko; lessons of life and harmony “of the highest order” with Lyle Davidson.
Jonas Tarm was one of the main organisers of the joint choir singing event Estonia sings for Ukraine. Tarm also composed a new choral arrangement to the Ukrainian song Oi u luzi chervona kalyna (Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow). The event took place at the Song Festival Grounds in Tallinn on the 22 May 2022. The video of the performance recorded by Estonian Public Broadcasting helped to raise a significant amount of money in support of Ukraine.