Estonian conductor Risto Joost is acclaimed for his artistic versatility and has gained widespread recognition for his work both in the opera pit and on the concert stage.

Since the 2024/25 season, Risto Joost has served as Chief Conductor of the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, and since the 2020/21 season, he has also held the position of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Estonian National Theatre Vanemuine in Tartu.

He has previously held major artistic positions such as Chief Conductor of the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and Brigitta Festival and has been a long-standing conductor of the Estonian National Opera.

Risto Joost is in demand as a guest conductor with orchestras such as the Helsinki Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Norwegian National Opera Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic, Trondheim Symphony, Kristiansand Symphony, Odense Symphony, Aalborg Symphony, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Oulu Sinfonia, Latvian National Symphony, and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared with the Orchestra Filarmonica della Fenice, Bavarian State Orchestra, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony, Flanders Symphony, Baroque Orchestra B’Rock, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Slovenian Philharmonic, Prague Radio Symphony, Brno Philharmonic, and the Janáček Philharmonic, among others.

In addition, he has collaborated with esteemed vocal ensembles such as the RIAS Kammerchor, SWR Vokalensemble, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Swedish Radio Choir, and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, among others.

In the 2025/26 season, he is scheduled to conduct the Helsinki Philharmonic, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Kuopio Symphony, and Liepāja Symphony, among others. At the Estonian National Theatre Vanemuine, he will conduct Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie, La Traviata (new production), and The Rite of Spring (ballet).

Between the 2026 and 2029 seasons, he will present Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen) in collaboration with the Estonian National Theatre Vanemuine and the Saaremaa Opera Festival.

During the 2024/25 season, he conducted a new production of Don Giovanni at the Heilbronn Theatre, as well as the premiere of La Bohème in Tartu, and revivals of Don Giovanni, King Arthur, Madame Butterfly, Turandot, and Julius Caesar. His recent opera highlights in Tartu and Tallinn include Turandot, Julius Caesar, Cyrano de Bergerac (by Eino Tamberg), La Traviata, and The Magic Flute.

Risto Joost’s discography includes four albums by Tõnu Kõrvits: The Sound of Wings and You Are Light and Morning (Sei la luce e il mattino) with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; Hymns to the Nordic Lights with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra; as well as Moorland Elegies (all released on Ondine). His recordings also feature works by Haydn with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Peeter Vähi with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, and Arvo Pärt with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Netherlands Chamber Choir.

In 2022, he received the Estonian Theatre Union’s Music Award for his work as music director and conductor for the concert production of Idomeneo at the Estonian National Opera, and for the opera productions of Linda di Chamounix and Don Giovanni at the Estonian National Theatre Vanemuine.

For his artistic achievements in Estonia and abroad, Risto Joost received the Music Award of the Estonian Cultural Endowment in 2016, and was awarded the Young Cultural Figure Award of the Republic of Estonia in 2011. He was a prizewinner at the Malko Conducting Competition in 2015 and the Jorma Panula Conducting Competition in 2012.

Risto Joost studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, pursued further training at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, and graduated in 2008 from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with a Master’s degree in orchestral conducting under Jorma Panula.