Lepo Sumera (8 May 1950 – 2 June 2000) was an Estonian composer and teacher. Life and career He was born in Tallinn and studied with Veljo Tormis in his teens, and from 1968, with Heino Eller at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (then Tallinn State Conservatory). After Heino Eller's death in 1970, he studied with Heino Jürisalu, graduating in 1973. He then did postgraduate study at the Moscow Conservatory (1979–1982) with the Russian composer Roman Ledenev. Sumera first came to notice in 1972 with In Memoriam, an orchestral tribute to Eller. Legacy He is considered one of Estonia's most renowned composers along with Eller, Eduard Tubin and Arvo Pärt, he was also his country's Minister of Culture from 1988 to 1992 during the days of the Singing Revolution. As such he was the last Minister of Culture of the Estonian SSR, and the first Minister of Culture after Estonia re-gained independence. See also 20th-century classical music Culture of Estonia References External links Lepo Sumera official web site Lepo Sumera on IMDb Lepo Sumera on AllMusic 1950 births 2000 deaths Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni Tallinn Music High School alumni Government ministers of Estonia Musicians from Tallinn Moscow Conservatory alumni 20th-century Estonian composers Burials at Metsakalmistu People's commissars and ministers of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic