He is best known as the music director of the UNC Symphony Orchestra at The University of North Carolina.
Kalam was born to Estonian parents and has lived in the United States since age 2.
Also included in his credits are summer fellowships at Tanglewood and Aspen, and numerous years at the Marlboro Music School in Vermont, where he was the guest conductor for the Beethoven Choral Fantasy on five occasions at the invitation of Rudolf Serkin.
Kalam's European debut was in 1994 where he conducted the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in Tallinn and was immediately reengaged to make festival appearances the following year.
Kalam currently teaches instrumental conducting at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1988.