Prof. Arbo Valdma began his teaching career after training in Tallinn and Moscow at the Tallinn Conservatory (Estonia). In 1976 he became professor for piano solo classes and head of the piano faculties at the music academies in Belgrade and Novi Sad (former Yugoslavia). In 1992, he moved to the Cologne University of Music and Dance, where he worked as a professor of piano for 20 years.
Numerous students of Prof. Arbo Valdma have won prizes at the most renowned international piano competitions and are professors at dozens of universities in various countries.
Arbo Valdma has performed as a soloist, with orchestras and as a chamber music partner at many centers in Europe, Asia and America.
Since 1984, Arbo Valdma has given numerous master classes in Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Canada and the USA. His lectures, demonstrations and master classes from 2000 to 2007 were well received at the World Piano Pedagogy Conferences in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Fort Worth. Since 2010 Arbo Valdma has been Chairman of Jury and Artistic Director of the International Piano Open Competition Liszt and Chopin Memory Prizesin Hong Kong.
In 1991 he was awarded the honorary title Doctor Honoris Causa by the Estonian Academy of Music.
