Leelo Kõlar (born Päts) was a Soviet and Estonian pianist, music educator, music teacher, and music critic. She was born in Tallinn on November 28, 1927, to composer Riho Päts and singer Made Päts, née Jakobson. In 1982, she was named an Honored Teacher of the Estonian SSR.
From 1940 to 1950, Kõlar studied at the Tallinn Conservatory with Bruno Lukk and Erika Franz, and also studied composition with Heino Eller. She began teaching at the Tallinn Music School in 1948. She received her conservatory diploma in 1954, then taught music in Kirov and studied periodically in Moscow with Maria Grinberg.
After returning to Estonia in 1956, she taught at the Tallinn Music School until 1992 and headed its piano department from 1987. From 1991 to 1994, she taught at a music school in Helsinki. She helped establish the Estonian Union of Piano Teachers in 1989 and received a Riho Päts Music Fund scholarship in 2002.
Kõlar continued to perform as a soloist and chamber musician throughout her career. She gave her first solo concert in 1948 and her last performance in 2017, marking her 90th birthday. She performed with orchestras led by conductors including Neeme Järvi, Nikolai Rabinovich, Karl Eliasberg, and Roman Matsov. The 1999 album Ricordanza featured archival recordings made in 1968 and 1969, with works by Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Paul Hindemith, and Rudolf Tobias.
Her teaching publications included the song collections Throughout the Year (1966) and Children’s Songs (1989), the beginner’s piano guide Beginning (1994), and Musical Games (1995). In 1975, she and her father published a piano textbook. She also compiled books about him, including Riho Päts in Words and Pictures (1981) and, as one of its editors, Riho Päts in the Mirror of Time (2019). Her other books included Conversations at the Piano (1999) and the collection of articles on music and musicians Against the Wind (2017).
From 1952 to 1961, Kõlar was married to musician and percussionist Erich Kõlar; their children included singers Ele and Kaia Kõlar and drummer Paap Kõlar. She later married hydrotechnical scientist Guido Targo. Their son, Mikk Targo, was a pop composer. Leelo Kõlar died on January 1, 2023, at the age of 95.