Aaro Pertmann (b. 1971) studied composition with Alo Põldmäe in Tallinn Georg Ots Music School and in the Estonian Academy of Music with Eino Tamberg (1996). In 2008, he graduated from Open University of Tartu University (history). Currently he is a music teacher in Tallinn Old Town Adult Gymnasium.
Pertmann’s works have been performed by girls’ choir Ellerhein, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Lviv KLK Symphony Orchestra, Nõmme City Orchestra, Tallinn Saxophone Quartet, New Tallinn Trio, cellists Pärt Tarvas, Andreas Lend, pianists Mati Mikalai and Martti Raide, saxophonist Virgo Veldi, harpist Tatjana Lepnurm, soprano Pille Lill, baritones Villu Valdmaa, Atlan Karp and others. His music has been presented in several places in Estonia, mainly at the Estonian Music Days Festival in the 1990s. Abroad, Pertmann’s work has been performed in Latvia, Norway, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.
Pertmann’s choral work Magnificat won the III prize at the Estonian Female Song Society’s competition for new choral songs in 1997. In 2001, Serenade was awarded the III prize at the composition contest Sinfonia Baltica organized by Latvian National Symphony Orchestra in Riga. Meetings in the Dreams got the III prize at the contest for new organ pieces organized by Pärnu Organ Festival and Tallinn Organ Festival in 2007. Pertmann’s Piano Sonatina No. 3 was one of the finalists at the Maurice Ravel International Composition Contest in Bergamo in 2016. In 2022, the orchestra piece Star Sonata was premiered in Bulgaria by the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. Four times, the composer’s chamber pieces have been played at the Osmose Festival in Brussels. Pertmann’s works have also been played at the KLK New Music forums in Lviv, Ukraine.
In recent years, he has often cooperated with Pille Lill Music Fund. His piano trio Masks of the Soul was performed in 2015 at the concerts organised by PLMF and dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Estonian Composers’ Union. The video of the performance of Helletus for string orchestra was in the program of WAV Venice Audio-Visual Show in February 2019.
EMIK