Roman Toi

Roman Toi (born  June 18, 1916 in Kõo , today Viljandi County , Estonia ; † May 7, 2018 in Toronto ) was an Estonian composer .

Life

Roman Toi studied from 1932 to 1936 at the Tallinn Conservatory (now the Academy of Music and Theater ) choir conducting and organ . From 1936 to 1940 Toi studied law at the University of Tartu , before studying composition with Heino Eller and conducting with Olav Roots from 1941 to 1944 . During the German occupation of Estonia, Toi was music editor for Estonian radio from 1941 to 1944. In 1943 he attended advanced training at the Mozarteum in Salzburg .

Before the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Toi fled to Germany in 1944 . There he was heavily involved in refugee circles. Toi was the organizer of the first singing festivals of the Auslandseste in Altenstadt in 1946 and in Augsburg a year later .

Toi lived in Canada until 1949 . In 1953 he completed a correspondence course in composition at the University of Chicago . From 1973 to 1977 he studied in Montreux , then at the universities of Cincinnati and Toronto . From 1974 Toi was a lecturer in music theory and composition at the Toronto Conservatory. He also worked as an organist, conductor and leader of choirs in exile Estonia. He composed numerous pieces of music, especially cantatas and songs for choirs. In 1995 he directed the general Estonian Song Festival in Tallinn.

Works (selection)

• Sümfoonia (1952)
• Suur on jumal, su ramm (cantata, 1967)
• Mängumees (cantata, 1970)
• Psalm 100 (for mixed choir, 1981)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 101-aastaselt suri koorijuht Roman Toi. In: postimees.ee. May 7, 2018, Retrieved May 7, 2018 (Estonian). 
2. ↑ Canadian-Estonian conductor, composer Roman Toi dies at 101 , accessed May 8, 2018
3. ↑ Eesti Elulood. Tallinn: Eesti Entsüklopeediakirjastus 2000 (= Eesti Entsüklopeedia 14) ISBN 9985-70-064-3 , p. 537

Web links

• Roman Toi at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (English)
• Maestro Roman Toi kodumaal (Estonian, with picture)