Alexander Vedernikov

Alexander Vedernikov was Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre from 2001 until 2009. He has been credited with rebuilding the Bolshoi Theatre’s historical reputation for artistic excellence. He led many productions at the Bolshoi, including a new production of Boris Godunov in the original Mussorgsky orchestrations (2007), Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (2006), Puccini’s Turandot (2006), Prokofiev’s Cinderella (2006), Prokofiev’s War and Peace (2005/2006), Leonid Desyatnikov’s The Children of Rosenthal (world premiere, commissioned by the Bolshoi Theatre), Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman (2004), Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel (2004), Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmila (2003), Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina (2002) and Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur (2002). He was also responsible for developing the Bolshoi’s programme of symphonic concerts, and has featured very broad repertoire. Under his direction, the orchestra of the Bolshoi toured extensively, including to Athens, Hamburg, Paris, a season of opera and ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and recently opera and symphonic performances at La Scala.

Aside from his immense success in Russia, Alexander Vedernikov performs extensively throughout Europe and further afield. Recent seasons have included engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Maggio Musicale Florence, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Netherlands Philharmonic, Stockholm Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Hamburg Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Montreal Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and many others. In the field of opera, Alexander Vedernikov has appeared as guest conductor at La Scala in Milan, La Fenice in Venice, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, the Teatro Reggio in Turin, and Rome Opera. In April 2005, he made his debut at the Bastille Opera in Paris conducting a new production of Boris Godunov directed by Francesca Zambello.

Born in Moscow into a musical family – his father was a bass soloist at the Bolshoi and his mother a professor of organ at the Moscow Conservatoire – Alexander Vedernikov studied at the Moscow Conservatoire and completed his postgraduate studies in 1990. From 1988 – 1990, he worked at Moscow’s Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre. From 1988 – 1995, he was assistant to the chief conductor and second conductor of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, whom he accompanied on many tours in Russia, Austria, Germany, Greece, Turkey and Great Britain. In 1995, he founded the Russian Philharmonia Symphony Orchestra and was Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of this orchestra until 2004. Since 2003, he has been a member of the conductors’ collegium of the Russian National Orchestra, with whom he has toured in France, Germany and the United States. In January 2004, as part of the Russian National Orchestra’s tour of nine cities, Alexander Vedernikov made his debut at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Centre, Washington. Since September 2009 he has been Chief Conductor of the Odense Orchestra in Denmark.