Eesti Heliloojate Liidu esimees (1974-1993)
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Jaan Rääts on Eesti Heliloojate Liidu pikaaegsem juht, ta on Eesti Heliloojate Liidu korraldustööga seotud olnud kokku 27 aastat.

Aastatel 1974-1993 tegutses ta Heliloojate Liidu esimehena ja varem aastatel 1966-1974 Heliloojate Liidu esimehe Boris Kõrveri asetäitjana. 1975. aastal valiti Jaan Rääts ENSV Heliloojate Liidu sekretäriks, tollane ENSV Heliloojate Liidu esimees oli Tihhon Hrennikov.

​​VIDEO  (ERR):AK filmikroonika 1958-1991: 1 | VESTLUS JAAN RÄÄTSAGA | Videoarhiiv | ERR

​UUS UURIMISTÖÖ (2021)

​Tartu Ülikooli Viljandi Kultuuriakadeemia kultuurikorralduse vilistlane valmis Tiiu Männiste (meedia ja kommunikatsiooni doktori) juhendamisel seminaritöö:

Jaan Rääts, Chairman of the ENSV and Estonian Composers'  Union, as a cultural manager in the contemporary context of cultural management" (2021) 

Töö valmimiseks andsid intervjuud Eesti kultuuri- ja ühiskonnaelu tipptegelased:​

​Alo Põldmäe, Sven Grünberg, Priit Kuulberg, Heiki Pisuke, Peeter Paemurru, Reet Remmel, Olav Ehala, Peeter Vähi, Merike Vaitmaa, Voldemar Lindström, Eeva Potter, Rein Rannap, Virve Normet, Jüri Trei, Igor Garšnek, Tiina Mägi,​ Jaan Rääts.

Diplomitöö on eesti keeles kättesaadav Tartu Ülikooli Viljandi Kultuuriakadeemia raamatukogus.
E-KATALOOG ESTER: https://www.ester.ee/record=b5482181*est​

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​   November 1974. Jaan Rääts has just been elected        Chairman of the ENSV Composers' Union.

Alo Põldmäe: "I perceived democracy in his case. He tried to help Composers Union members in trouble. One very important feature, why he was chosen as the head of Composers Union several times, was his democratic management style. (Põldmäe, 2021)

Sven Grünberg: "I have sometimes wondered what our music culture would have been like if, instead of Jaan Rääts, it had been led by those who eagerly followed all the instructions of the Communist Party, and unfortunately there were many of them. Fortunately, we were lucky to have the fresh-thinking, innovative and exceptionally talented Jaan Rääts at the helm." (Grünberg, 2021) ​

Jüri Trei: "Jaan was very faithful and had a very good heart. Very human and always treated everyone very well. Balanced as a leader, did not "hit his heels together". It was quite difficult because he had to be able to manage tensions in different situations. Jaan's phenomenon was that he communicated and knew how to communicate with everyone". (Trei, 2021)

Priit Kuulberg: Jaan has helped a lot of people. Especially young people. He treated young people very well. Jaan was a person with a capital "A". (Kuulberg, 2021)

Igor Garšnek: "Jaan Rääts was a gentleman  and a diplomat at the same time." (Garšnek 2021)

Tiina Mägi:  "What I liked about Jaan Rääts was that he never said a bad word. Something that can often happen in a leader's job. His silence was, for me, his denial. 
​I liked that. When Jaan didn't say something, I understood that something probably needed to be corrected. He could have very freely said more bluntly and asked to leave. But he always listened to his colleagues, it was really nice." (Mägi, 2021)

Colleagues about Jaan Rääts:

Peeter Paemurru: "Jaan Rääts left me with the impression of a very professional leader who positively supported the development of music and musical life. Usually, when a composer gets into a leading position, it is a case of one composer, It is very common for a composer who takes a leading position to be tempted to include more of his own compositions. In Jaani's case, however, it was the other way round - when he was music director of Estonian Television, he did not allow any of his works to be broadcast on television. /.../ 
Jaan categorically forbade, for example, the performance of his Trio No.3. This was his attitude, and it certainly ruled out from the outset that many unjustified reproaches." (Paemurru, 2021)

Rein Rannap: "I think that Jaan Rääts has always defended innovative and more free-spirited art, since the time when he was a sound director at the Estonian Radio. He defended rock, pop and jazz music. I remember how he praised the songs that were in the singing competition and recognized them as beautiful melodies, etc. He was not blindfolded and far from academic, he understood and appreciated all kinds of good music. (Rannap, 2021)
​ "I think that Jaan Rääts has had a great influence on the protection of cultural life and cultural figures. If someone said that, do you support Western ideology and doubt communist morality, Rääts was able to diplomatically and politically correct answer to the representatives of the authorities in such a way that the problem was removed. I think that Jaan Rääts was a buffer between rigid ideology and artists' desire for freedom. He must have known human psychology very well to be able to stage and defend things that were condemned by the authorities. He had a very good sense of how much he can and can flexibly push the boundaries, so that nothing breaks and no one gets into trouble. Jaan Rääts had the ability to maneuver between two different interest groups - artists who wanted to overturn and shake everything and officials who wanted to keep everything and avoid changes." (Rannap, 2021)

Alo Põldmäe:"We lived in a society where we had to follow certain ideological rules. Jaan Rääts, as the head of the organization, also had to follow these instructions in order to deal with other important matters. But it must be emphasized that Jaan, as the head of the organization, did not impose on anyone that a composer must write a patriotic piece for one or another anniversary.  A composer who wanted to write a thematic piece chose the text himself and created beautiful music for it. Some succeeded better, some worse. I don't know that as a party member Jaan Rääts exerted ideological creative pressure on composers. Jaan didn't start pushing anyone or persecuting anyone or pushing anyone aside." (Põldmäe, 2021) 

Jüri Trei:  "In order to protect people in case of ideological problems, and to prevent any major mess, Jaan Rääts was very helpful, human and accommodating. In order to protect people, a paper was hastily drawn up if necessary, which explained how to protect the creative person in front of the authorities in case of problems. Sometimes it was the case that the composer or the performer himself did not even know about the existence of the document protecting him. But paper with a protective content solved many problems for people." (Trei, 2021)

"It was 1975. Hugo Lepnurm had received a letter from America, in which 20 lecturers and students asked for the opportunity to visit the churches of Tallinn and give a concert introducing American music. Suddenly it turned out that the letter had been held for 4 months, probably also read, which was typical of the system at the time. Thus, the letter reached Lepnurm two days before the group of 20 Americans was due to arrive in Estonia. Hugo Lepnurm went to the Rector of the Conservatoire and asked if the American professors and musicians could give a concert at the Tallinn Conservatoire. The rector of the conservatoire at the time said categorically no, that the conservatoire was a closed institution, andno foreigner would set foot in the conservatoire. The moment had come for urgent action.
​I saw Jaan Rääts, who was already  the chairman of the Composers' Union at the time, and complained to Rääts that Americans were banned from performing at the Tallinn Music High School and Tallinn Conservatoire. I asked if the hall of the Composers' Union could be used.
Jaan Rääts replied hesitantly that there was no problem. Later that evening we put up notices at the Tallinn Conservatory on Vabaduse Puiestee. The hall was full later, everyone had come to hear the Americans.
(Trei, 2021)

​​VIDEO ARCHIVE, COMPOSERS UNION  (ERR):

https://arhiiv.err.ee/video/vaata/jaan-raats-223937

https://arhiiv.err.ee/video/vaata/muusikaelu-karl-leichter-75​
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https://arhiiv.err.ee/audio/vaata/meie-heliloojad-nlkp-26-kongressi-eel-meie-heliloojad-nlkp-26-kongressi-eel-jaan-raats-27043

https://arhiiv.err.ee/audio/vaata/muusikaline-tund-ekp-xix-kongressi-delegaat-helilooja-jaan-raats

JAAN RÄÄTS PERSONAL ARCHIVE:

Emigration of Arvo Pärt and Composers Union (1980) 
Previously unpublished interview with Jaan Rääts
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