all õhtutaeva / under evening sky (2020)

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Mihhail Gerts (conductor)

Ats Treimaa (sound engineer / ERR)

under evening sky (2020)

day by day, towards lightness (2021) 
for string quartet

Robert Traksmann (1st violin)
Katariina Maria Kits (2nd violin)
Mart Kuusma (viola)
Marcel Johannes Kits (cello)

Tanel Klesement (sound engineer)

day by day, towards lightness (2021)

accordion concerto (2022)

Momir Novakovic (accordion)
Pärnu City Orchestra
Kaspar Mänd (conductor)

Teet Kehlmann (sound engineer / ERR)

accordion concerto (2022)

by the north sea (2022)

five arabesques for chamber orchestra (2022)

symphony orchestra of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
Kaspar Mänd (conductor)

five arabesques for chamber orchestra (2022)

ali / wings (2023)
concerto for violoncello solo and symphony orchestra

Martti Rousi (cello)
Robertas Šervenikas (conductor)
Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra

ali / wings (2023)

Mikk Üleoja (conductor)
Estonian National Male Choir
Rascher Saxophone Quartet

so set its sun in thee (2023)

Johan Randvere (piano)
Álvaro Gómez (conductor)
Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia Sümfooniaorkester

piece for solo piano and symphony orchestra (2015)

Marten Altrov (clarinet)
Jakob Teppo (piano)

mesmerism (2015)

Ellen Niit

Lindude vaikus
taevatähtede all
nõrgub kui mesi
igasse lehte ja puusse.

Lindude vaikus
taevatähtede all
kõrgudes puutub
noorde küüskuldsesse kuusse.

Ettevaatlikult hinga,
astu nüüd tasakesi!
Ööviivust nõrgub su rinda
lindude vaikus kui mesi.

silence of birds (2017) / excerpt

Winner of the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Music of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2021), Alisson Kruusmaa (born 1992) has emerged as one of the most exciting and commissioned young Estonian composers of today. Currently living in Tallinn, Kruusmaa is focusing on large scale orchestral works and stage music. During the season 2023/2024, she is in residency at the Dutch National Opera and Ballet in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 

Kruusmaa's music is best described through ethereal, fragile and spacious soundscapes featuring a delicate and sparse orchestration. Her work has been commissioned in Europe, Asia and the United States. Among many others, she has worked with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Orkest de Ereprijs, Phion, Pelargos Quartet, Le Cameriste Ambrosiane and Rookh Quartet. In recent years, Kruusmaa has participated in several festivals, including the Gaudeamus Muziekweek and Andriessen Festival in the Netherlands, the international cello festival Cello Fest in Finland, Mise-En Festival and Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra Festival in the United States.

Throughout the years, Kruusmaa’s music has received several recognitions. In 2013, she was awarded Erkki-Sven Tüür Young Composer’s Scholarship. In 2018, her piece Rain (2018) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra won the Best Composition Prize at the 24th Young Composers Meeting in the Netherlands. She has been a featured composer twice at the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra Composition Competition in Los Angeles (2018 and 2021). In February 2022, her string quartet Three Miniatures (2016) was performed by the Eclipse Quartet at the University of California. She is the winner of the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Music of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2021). In 2023, Kruusmaa received the fellowship given out by maestro Tõnu Kaljuste. 

Kruusmaa studied composition at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and at the Conservatorio di Musica di Giuseppe Verdi di Milano. At this moment, she is concentrating on her doctoral studies focusing on composing music for ballet.

day by day, towards lightness (2021)

Alisson Kruusmaa

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