Kreem, born in Toronto, grew up in the city's Estonian community, participating in Scouts, Estonian school, and going to Jõekääru Summer Camp. “It's been a really foundational part of what I do and who I am today,” he said. “It influenced my cultural upbringing, friend groups, my appreciation for nature through Scouts, and my music career a lot.”
We met at the St. Peter's Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Toronto, where Kreem was able to show me the organ he frequently plays. Directing my attention to the organ, he pointed out that the organ pipes include the metal ones we see on the outside and the wooden boxes inside. “These have an exciting feature: trap doors open and close, changing the sound's volume. It's a very dynamic instrument.”
Playing the organ is a lot like solving a physics problem… It's very cool to talk to musicians who have some intuitive understanding of how the harmonic series works.
Kreem said that his professional training in piano and his background in science, which he studied at the University of Toronto, gave him unique skills for his music career. “Playing the organ is a lot like solving a physics problem…,” he said. “Many musicians intuitively understand the mathematical distinctions I've studied in my physics classes. It's very cool to talk to musicians who have some intuitive understanding of how the harmonic series works. Mathematicians understand it from a different perspective but not necessarily the actual auditory experience. This stuff is important for organ playing because it combines sounds in unique ways.”
On a typical day, Kreem balances his time practicing piano or the organ, teaching music lessons, theory, and history, as well as engraving compositions into computer-based notation software. “I'm really glad to have this kind of job where I can piece together a few hours a week practicing, singing in choirs, practicing my instruments, and putting on performances, which is the soul of what I do,” he said.
Finding a way to balance these passions while building a financially sustainable career is one of the biggest challenges that Kreem, like many other composers, currently faces. “One of the trickiest things to conquer as an artist is a bit of an identity problem, especially when you're someone who does a lot of different odd jobs to sustain yourself,” he said. “But at the same time, that can go hand in hand with the thing that might be most fulfilling to you: that all these things artistically influence and grow upon the thing that is your own artistic vision, which for me is performing my own works…and getting my artistic vision out in the world.”
See Erik's demonstration of the organ and more about his life below:
