Organizers
News subscribe
Valery Gergiev
Born in Moscow. After graduating from the Leningrad State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire and winning the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition he was invited to join the State Academic Kirov Theatre (now the Mariinsky Theatre). Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre since 1996. Valery Gergiev is the founder and artistic director of many international music festivals including the Mikkeli Festival (Finland), the Kirov Philharmonic (London), the Rotterdam Philharmonic-Gergiev Festival (the Netherlands) and the Moscow Easter Festival and Stars of the White Nights festival in St Petersburg.
Valery Gergiev is one of the finest conductors of our time. He works with such renowned ensembles as the Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), L’Orchestre National de France, Swedish Radio Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Minnesota, Montreal and Birmingham. He has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic since 1995 and of the Metropolitan Opera from 1997 to 2002. On 1 January 2007 Valery Gergiev was appointed Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
It was Valery Gergiev who first envisaged artistic co-operation between the Mariinsky Theatre and the world’s leading opera houses, among them the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden,
the Teatro Carlo Felice, the San Francisco Opera, La Scala, the New Israeli Opera and the Théatre du Châtelet.
Maestro Gergiev’s artistic achievements have brought him many awards and titles. He holds the titles of People’s Artist of Russia (1996), recipient of the title of Conductor of the Year (International Classical Music Awards, 1996), the State Prize of Russia (1994 and 1999) and a special prize from Philips Electronics. Recipient of the theatre prizes the Golden Sofit (1997, 1998, 2002 and 2004) and the Golden Mask (1996-2000, 2002). In 2000 Valery Gergiev was awarded Russia’s Order of Friendship and Armenia’s Order of St Mesrop Mashtots. He has also been decorated with Germany’s Bundesverdienstkreuz (first class “For Services”), Italy’s Grand Ufficiale al Merito and France’s L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2002 he received the Russian Presidential Prize for his outstanding contribution to the development of arts and sciences. In 2003 he was made an Artist of the World by UNESCO and was decorated with the order For Services to the Fatherland, third class. Recipient of the Order of St Prince Daniil of Moscow, third class (2003) and the Saintly Apostolic Brothers Kirill and Mefody Prize (2004) from the Russian Orthodox Church. Valery Gergiev was presented with the National Pride of Russia award (2003) and Russia’s highest public award For Work and the Fatherland. He was awarded the Crystal Prize for his dedication to the arts and his contribution to cultural dialogue (World Economic Forum, Davos, 2004). In 2005 Valery Gergiev was made a People’s Artist of Ukraine, and the same year he was awarded the Polar Music Prize by the Swedish Royal Academy of Music.
In 2006 he was awarded the Herbert von Karajan Prize, which was founded by the Baden-Baden Music Festival and a prize by the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation for his outstanding contribution to the development of cultural relations between Russia and the USA. In November 2006, Valery Gergiev received Japan’s highest award – the “Order of the Rising Sun” – as well as the highest award of Valencia – the Silver Medal. In April 2007 he was made an Honorary Officer of the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest State award. In May 2007 Valery Gergiev was awarded the Académie du disque lyrique prize for the best recording of a Russian opera as well as the title of “Honorary Citizen of St Petersburg”.
