Nikolay Alekseev Takes Over as Chief Conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic

Yuri Termirkanov will retain the position of Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic while Russian conductor Nikolay Alekseev steps in as Chief Conductor.

Alekseev is no stranger to the ensemble, having been Termikanov's deputy since 2000. Prior to that appointment, Alekseev studied with Mariss Jansons at the Leningrad Conservatoire and won First Prize at the 1982 Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition.

The intervening years saw him spend an extended period of time working with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (for which he was named a member of the Estonian Order of the White Star), and also with a number of prominent orchestras in Europe and the U.S., including the Baltimore Symphony and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Alekseev has also held the position of Chief Conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ulyanovsk Symphony Orchestra, the latter for seventeen years. Among other honors, he has been named as a People's Artist of the Russian Federation.