Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Mr. Agrest received a degree in violin performance with Josef Gingold from the Indiana University (Bloomington) and then returned, following his true passion, to study conducting from the legendary Ilya Musin, and was the last student of the late Mariss Jansons at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

Scion of the great Russian conducting tradition, Mikhail Agrest has honed his craft at the Mariinsky Theatre for over a decade, acquiring a considerable body of operatic, ballet and symphonic repertoire and working in close collaboration with Valery Gergiev. On the international stage, he has been invited to conduct at world’s top orchestras and opera houses, including Covent Garden; English, Finnish and Swedish national operas; Opera Australia, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Teatro San Carlo, Napoli and Scottish National Opera. On the concert platform Mr. Agrest has conducted Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Staatskapelle Dresden, Danish National Orchestra; London, St. Petersburg, Dresden, Netherlands, Helsinki, Stockholm, Taiwan, Seoul and Bremen philharmonic orchestras; Seattle, Vancouver, Houston, BBC orchestras and Svetlanov symphony orchestras, among others.

Mr. Agrest’s interpretations have been praised for imagination, sense of orchestral colors, clarity of texture, poetry, lyricism, passion, sense of drama and ability to inspire the orchestra. In the pit, he has been known for his ability to support the singers on stage and create orchestral sound palette that is harmony with the conception of the stage director.