Lepo Sumera (8 May 1950 – 2 June 2000) was an Estonian composer and teacher.[ ]
Life and career
He was born in
Tallinn and studied with
Veljo Tormis in his teens, and from 1968, with
Heino Eller at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (then Tallinn State Conservatory). After Heino Eller's death in 1970, he studied with Heino Jürisalu, graduating in 1973. He then did postgraduate study at the Moscow Conservatory (1979–1982) with the Russian composer
Roman Ledenev. Sumera first came to notice in 1972 with
In Memoriam, an orchestral tribute to Eller.
Legacy
He is considered one of Estonia's most renowned composers along with
Heino Eller,
Eduard Tubin and Arvo Pärt.
[Rickards (23 June 2000)] He was also his country's Minister of Culture from 1988 to 1992 during the days of the Singing Revolution.
[Huang (12 June 2000)] As such he was the last Minister of Culture of the
Estonian SSR, and the first Minister of Culture after Estonia re-gained independence.
See also
-
20th-century classical music
-
Culture of Estonia
External links
