The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) is one of the best-known Estonian music ensembles in the world. The EPCC was founded in 1981 by Tõnu Kaljuste, who was its artistic director and chief conductor for twenty years. In the years 2001–2007, the English musician Paul Hillier took over; during 2008–2013 the artistic director and chief conductor was Daniel Reuss. Since September 2014 the chief conductor has been Kaspars Putniņš.

The repertoire of the choir extends from Gregorian chant and baroque to the music of the 21st century, with a special focus on the work of Estonian composers, such as Arvo Pärt, Veljo Tormis, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Galina Grigorjeva, Toivo Tulev, Tõnu Kõrvits and introducing their output to the world. Each season the choir gives about 60–70 concerts both in Estonia and abroad.

The EPCC has cooperated with a number of outstanding conductors and orchestras including Claudio Abbado, Helmuth Rilling, Eric Ericson, Ward Swingle, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Nikolai Alekseyev, Olari Elts, Andrew Lawrence-King, Roland Böer, Frieder Bernius, Stephen Layton, Peter Phillips, Marc Minkowski, Christoph Poppen, Sir Colin Davis, Louis Langree, Paul McCreesh, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Gustavo Dudamel etc.

The EPCC has also worked with the following world-class orchestras such as the Norwegian, Australian, Prague and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Berlin Rundfunk Orchestra, Concerto Copenhagen, the Salzburg Camerata, Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble, the Philip Glass Ensemble, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Sarasota Orchestra, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra.

The EPCC has been a welcome guest at numerous music festivals and outstanding venues all over the world, for instance at the BBC Proms, the Mozartwoche, the Abu Gosh Music Festival, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Musikfest Bremen, the Salzburg Festspiele, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Festival Aix-en-Provence, the International Cervantino Festival, the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, the Bergen International Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Sydney Opera House, Wiener Konzerthaus, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Barbican Centre in London, the Dublin National Concert Hall, the Flagey Concert Hall in Brussels, the Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore, the Kennedy Center in Washington, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum and the Lincoln Center in New York, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles etc.

Another important aspect in the choir’s life is recording music for ECM, Virgin Classics, Carus, Harmonia Mundi, Ondine, resulting in award-winning CDs. The EPCC recordings have won twice GRAMMY-Award for Best Choral Performance: in 2007 for the album Arvo Pärt. Da Pacem with conductor Paul Hillier (Harmonia Mundi) and in 2014 Arvo Pärt. Adam’s Lament with conductor Tõnu Kaljuste (ECM). All in all, the choir has 15 Grammy nominations with the works by Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür and the music of Nordic countries. In 2018 the recording Schnittke – Psalms of Repentance. Pärt – Magnificat & Nunc dimittis (BIS), conducted by Kaspars Putniņš, won Gramophone Award. The EPCC recordings have won also the award Diapason d’Or, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik etc.