Tauno Aints (b. 1975) is an esteemed musical theater composer. His highly popular children’s musical “Karlsson on the Roof” premiered at the Estonian National Opera in late 2015 and Aints’s ballet “Modigliani – the Cursed Artist” (choreography by Toomas Edur) has been successfully performed there for seven consecutive seasons. His opera “Rehepapp” (“The Old Barney”) was directed by Marko Matvere and premiered at the Vanemuine Theater in 2013 where it is still in the repertoire. In 2016, his children’s opera “Guugelmuugelpunktkomm” premiered at the Vanemuine Theatre and in 2018, the Estonian National Ballet performed his ballet “Katariina I”, directed by Toomas Edur. Aints’s stage work has sounded as guest performances in the Helsinki National Opera and the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre.
Aints has worked with all the leading musical collectives in Estonia. In September of 2013, Aints’s “Concert for an Electric Guitar and Mixed Choir” premiered with Marzy Nyman playing the guitar solo and Daniel Reuss conducting the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. In January 2019, his work “Estonian Incantation 1” was published as an album (Toccata Next). Of Aints’s earlier works, most notable and revered has been his 2007 arrangement of Gustav Ernesaks’s children’s song “The Train Trip” for the 2007 Song and Dance Festival. As a musical arranger, Aints has had fruitful cooperation with Liisi Koikson, Lenna Kuurmaa, Tõnis Mägi, Sepo Seeman, Lauri Saatpalu, Curly Strings and other well-known Estonian artists. In collaboration with Arvo Pärt, Aints made the instrumental arrangements for Pärt’s children’s songs that were released on the album “Childhood stories” in 2015. One of his more internationally acclaimed arrangement projects originates from 2006: he arranged Veljo Tormis’s and folk metal band Metsatöll’s songs for the album “Curse Upon Iron”.
He graduated from the popular music department of the Viljandi Cultural College and from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre as a composer cum laude (advisors Prof. Lepo Sumera and Helena Tulve). Aints was active as a member of the popular music band Genialistid in 2002–2007.