Kalla Randalu is one of Estonia's major pianists, with a long career stretching back to Soviet days. Although he has lived in Germany since 1988, he has maintained close musical ties with his home country.

Randalu was born on November 25, 1956, in the Estonian capital of Tallinn. His teacher there was the influential Bruno Lukk, who had been a student of Paul Hindemith. Randalu studied at the Tallinn Conservatory and then moved on to the Moscow Conservatory for studies with Lev Vlassenko. After several wins in Eastern European competitions in the 1970s, he scored prizes at the 1981 Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau, East Germany, and the ARD Competition in Munich (a first prize) in 1985. These prizes put Randalu on the Western radar, and he moved to Germany in 1988. He has served as a professor of piano at the Freiburg Academy of Music and the Karlsruhe Academy of Music. Randalu has performed with major orchestras in the West, Estonia, and Russia. He has maintained a long collaboration with the Estonian National Symphony, with which he has premiered many new Estonian works. Randalu's Western credits include performances with the Bavarian Radio Symphony, the Hamburg Philharmonic, and BBC Symphony; in Russia, he has played with both the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Moscow Philharmonic. His recitals have appeared in such prestigious venues as the Herkulessaal in Munich and the Konzerthaus in Vienna. Randalu is a noted chamber player in Germany with two different ensembles, Villa Musica, and the Trio di Clarone.

Beginning in 1994, when he issued an album of Lepo Sumera's music on the BIS label with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi, Randalu has been a prolific recording artist. His albums have also appeared on Avi, MDG, and Estonian Record Productions. In 2019, he was heard on an album of choral music by Liszt and Arvo Pärt on the Ondine label with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. ~ James Manheim, Rovi