Valery Gergiev

Valery Gergiev is a Moscow-born conductor best known for his association with the Mariinsky (formerly Kirov) Theatre and his recordings of Russian composers. ∙ In 1976, while still a student at St. Petersburg Conservatory, Gergiev won the Herbert von Karajan Conductors’ Competition, named for the legendary Berlin Philharmonic maestro. ∙ Gergiev started making a name for himself in 1978, when he served under Music Director Yuri Temirkanov as assistant conductor of the Kirov (now Mariinsky) opera. ∙ His first appointment as a Principal Conductor came from the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, which he led from 1991 to 1995. ∙ The 1993 Mariinsky Orchestra recording of Prokofiev: War And Peace earned Gergiev the first of his 17 Grammy nominations. ∙ The Russian government named Gergiev Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, responsible for the orchestra, opera, and ballet companies in 1996. ∙ In 2006, he was awarded the international Polar Music Prize, in recognition “for how he has managed to develop and amplify the importance of artistic music in these modern, changing times.”