Ardo Ran Varres

Ardo Ran Varres is a composer who is writing music predominantly for film and theatre. He writes also concert music. Having received education in both music and theatre, the composer has combined in himself the roles of a musician, actor, composer, sound engineer and music designer. One of his strongest sides as a composer is his understanding of dramaturgy and translating its meaning skillfully to the language of sound. Varres has written original music for tens of stage plays, documentary and feature films. He writes music for the highest profile of TV- and movie productions ("Black Widows", "Living Images"). He has also received widespread acclaim for his music for modern dance productions. Ardo Ran's writing is of a wide specter, stretching from memorable melodies to experimental sound scenery's. Varres began his music studies on clarinet at the Tallinn Music High School with Hans Suurväli. His love for music continued also during his studies at the Drama School of Estonian Academy of Music (superviser Kalju Komissarov) and after graduating in 1996 when he was working as an actor in Rakvere Theatre. In Rakvere he wrote music for his first musical Arabella and Taaniel (2002). From 2003-2011 Ardo worked as a music director Estonian State Drama Theatre. In 2011, he obtained the master degree on composition at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Prof. Helena Tulve. Since then he has composed music for more than 20 stage plays, for a number of films, television programs, television series and radio plays. Ardo is a proud member of Estonian Composers' Union and Estonian Actors' Union.