prominent Estonian conductor; b. Tallinn, June 7, 1937. Järvi graduated with degrees in percussion and choral conducting from the Tallinn Music School, then studied conducting at the Leningrad Conservatory from 1955 to 1960. He pursued postgraduate studies in 1968, and in 1971 captured first prize in the Accademia di Santa Cecilia conducting competition in Rome.

Järvi was active in Tallinn as music director of the Estonian State Symphony Orchestra from 1960 to 1980 and of the Estonian Opera Theater from 1964 to 1977. He subsequently served as principal guest conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in England from 1981 to 1984. In 1982 he became music director of the Göteborg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden. He also was principal conductor of the Scottish National Orchestra in Glasgow from 1984 to 1988. In 1990 he became music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Järvi's guest conducting engagements have taken him to most of the principal music centers of the world. He has won particular notice for his efforts on behalf of such rarely performed composers as Franz Berwald, Niels Gade, Johan Svendsen, Wilhelm Stenhammar, and Eduard Tubin.