Uku Suviste

Uku Suviste
Uku Suviste in 2013
Born	(1982-06-06) June 6, 1982 Võru, Estonia
Occupation	Singer songwriter music producer
Musical career
Genres	Pop R&B soul funk
Instruments	Vocals Keyboard Piano Guitar Bass guitar Drums
Years active	2008–present
Labels	none
Website	ukusuviste.com

Uku Suviste (born June 6, 1982, Võru, Estonia) is an Estonian singer-songwriter, pianist and music producer.

Suviste is a versatile musician. His musical education is quite broad, and in addition to studies in Estonia he has improved his skills also in U.S. As a professional singer he has taken part in many singing contests, concerts, musicals and TV shows. He has worked as a studio engineer and music producer, and produced a number of hit songs for famous Estonian artists. Additionally, he is actively writing and recording his own original music. Beside his strong vocals with a unique timbre he plays many different instruments.

Education

At the age of six Suviste began his education in specialised music class at Tallinn School No. 21. At the same time he started attending in Tallinn Boys Choir and in school’s boy choir under the guidance of Lydia Rahula. She was also his solfeggio teacher and prepared him well for the time when he stepped into the Tallinn Music School. In 1997 he graduated specializing in piano.

In 2000, he graduated high school at Tallinn School No. 21 with commendations in music and P.E. After high school he underwent eight months of military service at The Guard Battalion.

In 2001, he was admitted to the Estonian Information Technology College, and four years later he graduated from the specialty of computer systems administrator. A year after joining the IT College, he went to the Georg Ots Tallinn School of Music to study pop-jazz singing.

For one and a half years starting in 2006, he studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, majoring in singing, contemporary writing and music production. Due to his excellent results he made the Dean’s List every semester by achieving a GPA (grade point average) of 3.8 out of maximum 4.

Musical career

In 2005, Suviste took place in the well-known Estonian singing contest "Kaks Takti Ette" ("Two-stroke") and won 3rd place. But counting the male participants - he was the best male singer in the contest. After the contest he had the opportunity to work in Elmar Liitmaa’s music studio called Rockhouse as a music producer. While working in the studio and producing songs for many well-known Estonian artists, he gained valuable experiences and also had the opportunity to record a lot of his own original songs.

In 2005, he self-produced and released his first original CD, an album called "It’s Christmas Time".

Since 2004, Suviste has taken part in Uno Naissoo youth singing and music composition competition for many years. In 2004, he was awarded a special prize for his original song "Never Have To". The following year his polyphonic a cappella song "Sõbrad" ("Friends") for six-voice vocals ensemble won 2nd place. And in 2008, the song "Refreshing" written by Suviste and his friend Mairo Marjamaa won the competition.

During 2006, Suviste was a part of an Estonian R&B and 80’s disco music band called "Lament". He was the second vocal soloist and also played the keyboard.

While studying in the Berklee College of Music in 2006-2007, he had the opportunity to collaborate with such talented musicians like Jennifer Holliday, Jetro da Silva (keyboard player for Whitney Houston, Brian McKnight etc) and many others.

In November 2008, he collaborated with the winner of Estonian Idol (2007) Birgit Õigemeel and they released an album called "Ilus Aeg" ("Beautiful time"). Suviste arranged all the tracks on the album, and he also sang in few songs in duet with Birgit. In context of the album they gave a number of successful concerts as well.

In 2010, Suviste took part in Russia’s largest song contest "New Wave" and won the 3rd place. There were ca 12,000 participants and the contest show was broadcast in 31 countries.

In 2012, Suviste produced a music video "Võitmatu" ("Invincible") with the support and cooperation of the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Ministry of Defence.^[1] The music video was dedicated to all the soldiers, who had served in the armed forces in Afghanistan, and their families. There are two guests making a cameo appearance in the beginning of the video, to also show their support for Estonian soldiers. The first was Estonian discus thrower and Olympic gold medalist Gerd Kanter, and the other was Justin Gatlin, who is an American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist in the 100 metres.

In the autumn of 2014, Suviste took part in the Estonian television parody show "Your Face Looks Familiar". Proving his phenomenal vocal versatility as well as his musicianship on piano, guitar, and drums, while parodying such singers as Robbie Williams, Ray Charles, Beyoncé, Prince etc.

In addition to numerous television appearances, concerts and tours, Suviste has performed on stage in several musicals such as "Oliver Twist", "Chicago" and the musical "West Side Story" being produced by Georg Otsa School of Music. Most recently he played Danny in the Estonian production of "Grease".

In 2016, he was selected as one of the twenty participants for Eesti Laul 2017, with the song Supernatural. He was eliminated in the first semi-final.

Achievements

Personal life

Suviste’s father is one of the most successful Estonian TV producers Raivo Suviste, and his mother is Heli Suviste-Polikarpus. His mother has graduated from the National Conservatory of Music under the guidance of Hendrik Krumm, specialising in classical singing.^[2] Suviste’s uncle Väino Puura and his wife Sirje Puura are well-known Estonian opera singers.

Miscellaneous

• In 2010, readers of the magazine "Chronicle" chose Suviste for the title of "Estonian’s Sexiest Man".
• Suviste is the youth patron of the UNICEF Estonia (since 2011).
• In late 2010, Suviste charmed the viewers of Channel 2 in the program "Dancing with the Stars" by performing a dance with the dance teacher and the show’s host Kaisa Oja.

Discography

References

External links

• Uku Suviste ametlik koduleht