Valery Gergiev is Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Th eatre, Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the St.Petersburg State University, Chairman of the Organisational Committee of the International Tchaikovsky Competition and Honorary President of the Edinburgh International Festival. He established and directs festivals including the Stars of the White Nights, the Gergiev Festival (the Netherlands) and the Moscow Easter Festival. In 1997 following Sir Georg Solti’s death, Valery Gergiev took over the World Orchestra for Peace. At the Mariinsky Th eatre Gergiev has overseen the emergence of a plethora of world-class singers.
Under his direction the theatre’s opera and ballet repertoires have become much richer and more diverse, now including a broad range of works from 18th to 20th century classics as well as music by contemporary composers. In 2006 Valery Gergiev’s eff orts were rewarded with the construction of the Mariinsky Concert Hall, which has signifi cantly expanded the repertoire possibilities available to the opera and ballet companies and the orchestra.
Established by Gergiev in 2009, the Mariinsky recording label has already released twenty discs that have won praise and acclaim from critics and audiences alike across the globe. The maestro works with the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna, New York and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestras and the Filarmonica della Scala. Gergiev’s numerous awards and prizes include prestigious government decorations from Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, the Netherlands and Poland.
In 2012 Gergiev was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of the Moscow State University.
In 2013 the maestro will become head of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, founded on the initiative of Carnegie Hall in New York, and in 2015 – Principal Conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.