Robert Jürjendal

Robert Jürjendal (b. 1966) studied classical guitar at the Georg Ots Tallinn Music School from 1981 to 1985, with composition as an elective under composer Anti Marguste. In 2013, he earned a Master’s degree in Music Education from the Viljandi Culture Academy of the University of Tartu and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

Since 1992, he has participated three times in Guitar Craft courses led by English guitarist and innovator Robert Fripp, and toured in Germany as part of The Berlin Guitar Ensemble. In 1993, he co-founded the ensemble Weekend Guitar Trio with Mart Soo and Tõnis Leemets, for which he has composed and arranged a significant portion of the guitar repertoire.

As a guitarist, composer, and producer, Robert Jürjendal has contributed to the creation of more than 50 albums. Over the years, his collaborators have included Tõnis Mägi (Tõnis Mägi & 777), Arvo Urb (Fragile), Riho Sibul, Siiri Sisask, Liisi Koikson, Strand Rand, Indrek Patte (Linnutee), UMA, Liisi Viira, Kaido Kirikmäe, Mati Turi, Madis Metsamart, Anti Jürjendal, David Rothenberg, John Wieczorek (USA), Petri Kuljuntausta (Finland), Nadia Utkina (Udmurtia), Markus Reuter (Germany–Austria), Toyah Willcox, Tim Bowness, Colin Edwin, Peter Chilvers (UK), Andi Pupato (Switzerland), Jan Bang, Arve Henriksen (Norway), and Sándor Szabó (Hungary), among many others.

He has composed music for various ensembles, including Duo Kristo Käo / Jorma Puusaag, Tallinn Guitar Quartet, Tobias Quartet, Una Corda, Resonabilis, YXUS Ensemble, Estonian National Male Choir (RAM), chamber choir Head Ööd Vend, chamber choir K.O.O.R, the Ellerhein Girls’ Choir, and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. He has also collaborated closely with clergyman Jaan Tammsalu and writers Doris Kareva and Valdur Mikita.

Jürjendal has composed music for theatre productions, including “Kalevipoeg” (Vanemuine Theatre, 2018), as well as for several short and documentary films such as “Longing” (dir. S. Cute, USA), and nature films including “The Exile,” “Songs of Coastal Meadows,” “Beyond the Rain,” “Black With Red,” “Lanswood Gardens,” “The Measure of Man,” “The Power of Preservation,” “Woman and Glacier,” and “Come Back Free.”

He has released three solo albums: Source of Joy (Iapedus Music, 2013), Balm of Light (Iapedus Music, 2014), and Simple Past (Strangiato Records, 2016). He has given numerous solo concerts in Estonia, Finland, Norway, and Hungary.

In 2018, he released the album Another World together with English bassist Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree, Exwise Heads). The same year, the US label Albany Records released his first author album with the ensemble Five Seasons (Volkmar Zimmermann, Sara Fiil, Aleksei Saks, Madis Metsamart, R. Jürjendal).

Robert Jürjendal works as a lecturer at the Tallinn Music and Ballet School and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. He is a freelance performer and composer, and a member of the Estonian Composers’ Union. Currently, he is active as a freelance composer/musician and the organizer of the SOOLO concert series at Tallinn Art Hall.