LHV choir on big stages: the lasting joy of choral singing is a great treat for mental health
10. april 2026This spring, LHV’s 40-member choir is conquering television screens, testing their mettle on the Kanal 2 entertainment show ‘Laul vs. Tants’ (‘Song v Dance’). Between broadcasts, their schedule is packed with rehearsals for their own charity concert, performances at local festivals, and the choir’s traditional summer camp.
It is not at all common for a large corporation to have such an ambitious choir. The LHV choir’s rise to fame has been as brisk as the bank’s own success story. Yet, one should not look for a marketing gimmick behind it, but rather the immense passion for singing shared by retail and internet banking heads, lawyers, product engineers, and specialists in business development, work environment and training, and other LHV people.
From idea to choir
From the moment the idea sparked in the HR Department four years ago to assemble a collective of musically gifted LHV people, several years passed before the choir was actually established. Ideas were bounced around: how to do it, where to do it, and with whom? Initially, it did not even cross anyone’s mind that the rehearsal space with the best acoustics would be LHV’s own Rävala customer office.
‘Then the Song Festival began to approach, and that provided the perfect push to get the group together,’ says Mirjam Palmpuu, the head of the choir, who works as a claims lawyer at LHV Kindlustus. As a child, she studied guitar at a music school and sang in a choir, but this was followed by a 15-year hiatus from choral singing.
Not just a hobby choir
To understand how creating a choir really works, Valter Soosalu was brought on as a mentor. Subsequently, a search began for a conductor who possessed the ‘LHV gene’: entrepreneurship, openness, and passion. That mutual recognition came quickly with the distinguished conductor and head of the Choir Academy, Veronika Portsmuth.
‘A few LHV people were already singing under my direction at the time. When they approached me with the idea of conducting LHV’s own choir, it seemed like an exciting challenge. It was already clear during the auditions that LHV truly has the material to start building something,’ recalls Veronika, who is ignited by bold ideas and experimentation as a conductor.
Since high expectations for quality go hand-in-hand with LHV, one thing was agreed upon immediately: this would not be just a hobby choir. If you’re going to do it, do it right the first time – go all out and do it properly!
Backing for Nublu and Metsatöll
The first major performance took the choir to a stage erected at the Narva Kreenholm complex in the summer of 2024, where they sang backup for Nublu and Gameboy Tetris during LHV’s summer days. At the year-end party at the Tallinn Cruise Terminal, however, they served as the backing force for Metsatöll.
‘We met the artists in the studio, recorded, rehearsed together, and polished the performance. All arrangements had to be written for the choir and movements devised together with choreographers,’ Mirjam recalls of the four-to-five-month preparation period.
By now, the choir has quite a few performances under its belt, each with a different face. This spring, however, the primary energy is going toward participating in the TV show ‘Laul vs. Tants’ (‘Song v Dance’). For this, the usual Wednesday evening rehearsals are no longer enough.
To the semi-finals with Nublu’s hit
‘For example, this week we had four rehearsals: the semifinal song and choreography had to be finalised. All the content seen on stage is our own creation and organisation – from makeup to stage lighting. The production team helps, but the vision must be strictly our own,’ Mirjam explains with regard to the show’s behind-the-scenes.
The level on the TV show is very high: the duels between singers and dancers feature well-known bands and top choreographers. One winner will emerge from among 32 performers by the end of the season. The LHV choir entered the show specifically to win.
In the quarterfinals, the LHV choir faced off against the folk dance group Pikne, who performed an energetic Kaerajaan. ‘Nothing is certain on the show, and the subjective opinion of five judges counts. Fortunately, we received a lot of praise from them and advanced to the semi-finals with four votes. Now we cannot rest on our laurels,’ says Mirjam.
While it was Nublu’s hit ‘Kastehein’ – Nublu being a great favourite of our conductor – that carried the LHV choir through the quarter-finals, they will perform a contemporary Estonian ballad in the semi-finals. Even the song’s original performer is eagerly anticipating how it will sound in a choral arrangement. The show has already been recorded but will air on 19 April.
International stages
As participation in the TV show has gained such momentum, the choir had to decide with a heavy heart to forgo plans to travel to the international choir games in Sweden in August, which singers affectionately call the ‘Choir Olympics’.
‘It seemed like a great opportunity to bring ourselves to the international arena, and it is a good benchmark for the choir’s level. However, preparations for the show are currently taking up all our time. We also have several performances lined up for the summer, and in the autumn, we plan to organise a large charity concert with Peaasi.ee. We’ll be learning the songs for it during choir camp,’ says Mirjam.
Thus, a busy spring and summer lie ahead. ‘On one hand, it is tiring, but on the other, it gives back so much. The joy of singing in a choir is immense, and it is a long-lasting treat for mental health,’ she confirms. Taking over the baton from the previous head of the choir in December, Mirjam had no idea that the choir’s activities would take on such proportions.
Reaching a high level in a few years
‘It has truly been an exciting journey. The people are so cool and the energy in the choir is so great. Veronika Portsmuth is demanding, but versatile and inspiring, and she thinks outside the box. And all this collective creation and success: it has been scientifically proven that singing relieves tension in the nervous system,’ Mirjam points out, highlighting the joy derived from the choir.
Additionally, Veronika Portsmuth is very satisfied with the level the LHV mixed choir has reached. After all, not everyone who made it into the choir could even read music at first. ‘When I was called and asked if I had a choir that could put itself to the test in a new show, I knew immediately that the LHV choir was perfect for a TV show,’ she laughs, calling the LHV choir quite extraordinary.
To maintain the choir’s level, not just anyone can get in. Whether it is a soprano, alto, tenor, baritone or bass, one must pass an audition with the conductor to demonstrate their vocal material.
‘We plan to recruit new singers in the autumn when preparation for the 2028 Song Festival begins. Learning the songs and auditions for that will last over a year,’ says head of the choir Mirjam, outlining future plans. She does not rule out visiting an international choir competition next summer.
‘Singing in the LHV choir allows me to create choral music, which is so close to my heart, together with the people of LHV and our dear conductor. I really enjoy the process of transforming the tentative first notes of a new song into a confident and dazzling performance on stage. All of this is accompanied by great humour in the rehearsal rooms and backstage. The most memorable performance with the LHV choir was certainly the last Song Festival.’
‘After a long workday, one could just go home, kick one’s feet up on the sofa, and stare into the depths of the television, but my mental batteries are recharged every Wednesday evening by singing in the LHV choir. That slight thrill that runs up and down your spine when you stand backstage with Nublu and the choir is unforgettable. The LHV choir and conductor are crazy in the best possible sense. Within just a few years of activity, we’ve fit in Metsatöll, Nublu, Kanal 2, and the Song Festival – what more could your soul expect from a choir!’
‘Choral singing is my longest-running hobby. Joining LHV as a new person, it was wonderful to discover that the LHV choir had just been formed. While many were drawn to join by the ambition of the Song Festival, I have been to the festival many times. I joined the choir simply because it would be fun and to get to know new colleagues from outside my own team. It is a pure joy to constantly see so many familiar faces in everyday work life as well. The coolest discovery for me has been our conductor, Veronika Portsmuth. Her brilliance, energy, and soaring ideas are incredibly inspiring. It is a rare skill to be meticulously demanding, yet also mellow, supportive, and encouraging, so that the pursuit of a high artistic level is 100% enjoyable.’
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