Praised for its ‘nearly unbearable brilliance’ (Peter Dobrin, Philadelphia Inquirer) the music of Riho Esko Maimets has been receiving an increasing number of performances at home in Estonia and around the world. His music has been performed by collectives such as the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Estonian National Male Choir, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and the Gryphon Trio. He has also written several works for the Estonian National Song Festival. He completed a Diploma in Composition at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2014 and recently enrolled in the Doctoral School of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, where his instructors are Toivo Tulev, Tõnu Kõrvits and Kerri Kotta. He composes mainly choral and chamber music as well as works for orchestra, solo songs and music for children.
Past teachers include Helena Tulve and René Eespere (Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre), Christos Hatzis (University of Toronto) and David Ludwig and Richard Danielpour (The Curtis Institute of Music). In addition to participating in numerous summer academies and festivals such as the Fontainebleau American Conservatory, the Lake Champlain Music Festival and the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Maimets has also been the recipient of numerous awards including the 2011 Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music, the highSCORE Prize 2011, First Prize at the 2012 Villiers Quartet Competition, the Theodore Presser Music Award as well as a SOCAN award. In 2020, he was named Choral Composer of the Year by the Estonian Choral Association.