Riho Maimets, Composer

Biography

The music of Riho Esko Maimets has been described as "enchantingly beautiful" and having a "unique emotional and communicative impact". His composition studies began in 2004 at the Claude Watson Program at Earl Haig Secondary School in Toronto, Canada, with the strings teacher, Alan Torok. Riho went on to study composition at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn, Estonia, under the tutelage of Helena Tulve and René Eespere.
In 2011, Riho was awarded the highSCORE Prize 2011 in Pavia, Italy, in recognition of his "mature and individual style, in spite of his relative youth". 
In September 2011, Riho was selected as one of four Canadian composers under the age of 35 to participate in the Générations 2012 project with the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal (ECM+). Over the next year, Maimets will compose a piece featuring violinist Véronique Mathieu as a soloist. The piece will be given eight performances across Canada in November 2012.

Riho considers himself lucky to be intimately connected to his heritage, which is an everlasting source of inspiration. For Riho, the primary function of music is to provide spiritual nourishment to the listener. Music is also a way for the listener to reconnect to the distant past, and to gain a sense of belonging in the contemporary world. His music has been performed by ensembles such as the Gryphon Trio, Supernova Quartet, Quartetto Indaco, Tallinn Chamber Choir and the Chamber Choir "Young Estonian Voices" Noored Eesti Hääled. Riho has received commissions from the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects, Scotia Festival of Music and the Noor Muusik "Young Musician“ International Competition for Young Musicians among others. Riho's music has been performed in Canada, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Italy and the United States. 
He is currently pursuing graduate studies in composition at the University of Toronto with Christos Hatzis.