Erle Kont-Vilson - Conductor and clarinettist

About

Estonian conductor Erle Kont-Vilson is a Verbier Festival Conducting Fellow 2025 and a Tanglewood Music Festival Conducting Seminarian 2026. She has guest conducted orchestras such as the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Joensuu City Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, ensemble reflektor, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Jyväskylä Sinfonia, Seinäjoki City Orchestra and Pori Sinfonietta. During masterclasses she has conducted the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, Gstaad Festival Orchestra and others.

Erle holds two Master's degrees from the Sibelius Academy as a symphony orchestra conductor (studying under Sakari Oramo) and clarinettist (Kari Kriikku and Harri Mäki). She has also studied wind orchestra conducting with Petri Komulainen and choral conducting with Nils Schweckendiek at the Sibelius Academy. Kont-Vilson has been mentored by Johannes Schlaefli, Paavo Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jorma Panula, Nicolas Pasquet, Eva Ollikainen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Dalia Stasevska and Jaap van Zweden among others.

Kont-Vilson is the founder and Artistic Director of the contemporary music organization Tartu Sound (established in 2017), which commissions and performs works by Estonian composers at the start of their careers. It is a community driven organization that brings together new music lovers, composers and instrumentalists in Tartu region, Estonia. It works with musicians of the highest calibre, including Ensemble intercontemporain.

Kont-Vilson is also the Artistic Director of the innovative concert series Fantasy Concerts. Their concerts include music, light art and space installations for an immersive experience where ordinary spaces transform into magical landscapes. Their first show The Enchanted Forest premiered in Estonia in March 2026 with decorations including giant mushrooms, real trees and taller than trees fantasy flowers.

As a prolific prizewinner on the clarinet, Erle Kont-Vilson has received awards from 14 competitions, including 1st prize at the international Eduard Medinš Competition (2011, Latvia), the Bohuslav Martinů and Viktor Kalabis Competitions (2015, Austria) and the Estonian National Competitions (2009, 2011). She has performed as an orchestral soloist in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Latvia, and Estonia.

Erle has studied the clarinet, piano and violin at the Sibelius Academy as well as classical singing with the award-winning soprano Heta Sammalisto-Muhonen.