Born in the Estonian town of Türi, Kristiina Poska began by studying choral conducting at the Music Academy in Tallinn in 1998 and then continued with orchestral conducting at the Music Academy Hanns Eisler in Berlin with Christian Ehwald in 2004.

From 2006 to 2011 Kristiina Poska was principal conductor of the Cappella academica, the symphony orchestra of the Humboldt University Berlin which gave her the opportunity of regular performances at the Konzerthaus Berlin. The 2008/09 season saw her at the Neuköllner Oper Berlin with the highly acclaimed production ›Ihre Bohème‹ which soon led to engagements at Koblenz Theatre, Brandenburg Theatre and in 2010/11 to the Komische Oper Berlin. There Kristiina Poska was enthusiastically received by both orchestra and audience and immediately re-invited for a series of performances of Jacques Offenbach’s ›La Périchole‹. Incoming intendant Barrie Kosky appointed her into his musical team as First Kapellmeister from 2012/13. A new production of Bertolt Brecht’s ›Seven Deadly Sins‹ which she conducted in February 2012 was hailed as a »revelation« by the nationwide press.

Apart from her remarkable career at Komische Oper Berlin the young Estonian is internationally much in demand as a conductor and has successfully debuted e.g. with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Symphonieorchester Bern, Vienna Konzerthaus with Camerata Salzburg, Volksoper Vienna and many more.

Kristiina Poska was supported by the Conductor’s Forum of the Deutsche Musikrat and won the prestigious German Conductor’s Prize in April 2013. Before that she already received numerous international prizes, e.g. from the Dimitris Mitropoulos-Conducting Competition Athens, from Donatella-Flick-Competition conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in as well as at the renowned at the renowned Malko-Competition in May, where she also received the audience prize following the final concert with Danish National Symphony Orchestra.