Formed in 1996, ensemble VOX CLAMANTIS comprises a diversity of musicians – singers, composers, instrumentalists, and conductors – who have a common interest in Gregorian chant. Alongside Gregorian chant, considered to be the foundation of all European music, Vox Clamantis often performs early polyphony and contemporary music. Many Estonian composers, among them Arvo Pärt, Helena Tulve, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Tõnis Kaumann, and Sven Grünberg, have written compositions for Vox Clamantis.
Vox Clamantis has performed with Catalan soprano Arianna Savall, French pianist Jean-Claude Pennetier, Italian nyckelharpa player Marco Ambrosini, Israeli oud player Yair Dalal, Tunisian singer Dhafer Youssef, the cello octet Amsterdam, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. Continuous collaboration with different musicians has inspired the birth of impromptu programmes, based on improvisation.
Vox Clamantis has recorded for ECM Records and Mirare. The CD «Liszt - Via crucis» have won Diapason d’Or award in 2013, the CD «Arvo Pärt - Adam’s Lament» (conductor: Tõnu Kaljuste) has won GRAMMY-Award for Best Choral Performance in 2014. The film featuring Vox Clamantis music, «The Great Beauty» (La Grande Bellezza), received an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The CD «Arvo Pärt. The Deer’s Cry» (ECM) won a Diapason d’Or Award, Chock in French magazine Classica, the Album of the Year Award in Estonia and was nominated for the BBC Music Magazine Award and the Danish Classical Radio Award 2018. The latest CD «The Suspended Harp of Babel» (ECM) won the best choir album prize in Estonia and was chosen by BBC Music Magazine as one of the best classical albums released in 2020.
The ensemble gives concerts in Estonia as well as abroad. Concert tours have taken Vox Clamantis around the entire world. They have participated in the Sydney Festival, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, RCM's 21C festival in Toronto, the Manchester International Festival, La Folle Journée Festival in France and Japan, and the International Piano Festival of La Roque d'Anthéron.
In 2017, Vox Clamantis received the National Culture Award of the Republic of Estonia.
Jaan-Eik Tulve
was born in Tallinn (Estonia). After obtaining his diploma in choral conducting at the Tallinn Conservatory in 1991, he learned to conduct Gregorian chant at Le Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), where he was awarded the diploma in 1993. Subsequently, he worked at the CNSMDP as assistant to Louis-Marie Vigne, who had a determining influence on his musical development. He has also taught many courses in Gregorian chant in France, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Scotland, the Faeroe Islands, Israel, Tasmania, Lithuania, Finland, and Estonia. In 1996, he took up a post teaching Gregorian chant at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. He is often invited to conduct music sessions in monasteries. In his musical training – Gregorian, in particular – Jaan-Eik Tulve has learned a great deal from his work with Dom Daniel Saulnier of Solesmes Abbey.
In 1992, Jaan-Eik Tulve became conductor of the Paris Gregorian Choir, with which he has since performed in many European countries and also in Lebanon. Many of the recordings made with the choir have received great critical acclaim (including the Diapason d'Or). In 1993, Jaan-Eik Tulve formed the Lac et Mel ensemble in Paris, specialising in the performance of medieval polyphonic works. He also founded the female-voice section of the Paris Gregorian Choir in 1994. Finally, in 1996, he founded the Vox Clamantis ensemble in Tallinn. Jaan-Eik Tulve has also conducted the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Estonian National Male Choir, ensemble Hortus Musicus, and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra.
Jaan-Eik Tulve was chosen as Musician of the Year 2017 by the music editors of Estonian Public Broadcasting.