Jury

Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, People’s Artist of Russia

Born in 1953 in Moscow. A student of legendary Prof. I. Musin. While still a student at the Leningrad State Conservatory, he won the H. von Karajan Competition in Berlin and the All-Union Conducting Competition in Moscow, following the invitation to join the Kirov (now the Mariinsky) Theatre as an assistant to the principal conductor. His debut came in 1978 with Sergei Prokofiev’s opera War and Peace. In 1988 he was appointed Music Director of the Theatre, in 1996 he became its Artistic and General Director.
With the arrival of V. Gergiev, it became a tradition to hold major thematic festivals marking various anniversaries of composers. The Mariinsky Orchestra under V. Gergiev performs an expansive repertoire — from Beethoven to Ustvolskaya, Shchedrin, etc. Under the direction of V. Gergiev, the Mariinsky Theatre has become a major theatre and concert complex: in 2006 the Concert Hall was opened, in 2013 — Mariinsky II; since 2016 — The Theatre has had a branch in Vladivostok (The Primorsky Stage), since 2017 — in Vladikavkaz.
The maestro made his international debut in 1991 at the Bayerische Staatsoper, then at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and many other significant opera and concert stages in the world. Valery Gergiev’s activity brought him three State Prizes of Russia, the title of Hero of Labour, the Order For Merit to the Fatherland III, IV classes, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, and prestigious state awards of other countries.

Conductor

Born in 1973 in Spain, he studied at the Conservatory in Oviedo, then in Madrid with Benito Loret. He graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in opera-symphonic conducting classes under the guidance of D. Kitajenko.
In 2001, at the age of 28, César Álvarez won the appointment to become a principal conductor of the Tomsk Philharmonic Orchestra, where he worked until 2011. Now he is the honorary conductor of the ensemble. He was the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Symphony Orchestra of the Region of Murcia (Spain) (1997 — 2006).
He works with world-leading orchestras, such as the Russian National Orchestra, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, the Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra, the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra, the Oviedo and Malaga Philharmonic Orchestras, the Symphony Orchestra of the Region of Murcia, the Symphony Orchestra of Albanian Radio Television, the Brno Philharmonic, etc.
Outstanding musicians performed with the maestro: pianists D. Matsuev, E. Mechetina, N. Petrov; violinists V. Tretiakov, L. Isakadze, A. Baeva, A. Bruni, cellist A. Rudin, flutist M. Grauwels, singers A. Arteta, N. Machaidze, G. Kunde, etc.
César Álvarez tours actively in many countries, including Russia, Europe, China, the USA, and South America. He teaches orchestral conducting at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Murcia and Vanderbilt University (Tennessee, USA).
He has been fruitfully collaborating with the composer Eduard Artemyev and performing his music.

Conductor

Christian Knapp was born in Chicago. He received bachelor’s degrees in piano performance from the New England Conservatory (Boston) and in philosophy from Tufts University (Somerville and Medford). He studied conducting at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Siena) under Yuri Temirkanov and Myung-Whun Chung and subsequently at the St. Petersburg Conservatory under Ilya Musin, the patriarch of the St. Petersburg school of conducting, and Leonid Korchmar.
He began his conducting career in 2000 at the Broomhill Opera in London. Over the years, Knapp has collaborated with the English National Opera, the Seattle Opera, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Liverpool), the Symphony Orchestras of Seattle, Baltimore, Houston, and Indianapolis among others.
In 2011, Christian Knapp made his debut at the Mariinsky Theatre. Since then, he has conducted a large number of performances there: operas by W.A. Mozart, G. Verdi, G. Puccini, H. Berlioz, F. Cilea, C. Gounod, C. Saint-Saëns, G. Bizet, J. Massenet, C. Debussy, R. Wagner, R. Strauss. Numerous symphony concerts are also given under his direction including the complete Beethoven symphonies cycle.
Mr. Knapp is a passionate proponent of new music. His repertoire includes works by P. Boulez, D. Adams, G. Crumb, K. Saariaho, D. Ligeti, P. Dusapin, K. Stockhausen, and others. In 2005 Knapp conducted the first performance of American composer P. Dresher’s opera The Tyrant.
The conductor works with youth ensembles, including the New York’s International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). In 2006 with that ensemble Knapp conducted the American premiere of M. Lindberg’s composition The Zone at the Mostly Mozart festival in New York.

Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Kuzbass Symphony Orchestra, professor

In 1987, Tao Lin entered the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing (majoring in Composition). On receiving a scholarship from the Chinese government, he continued his education at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (composition class under A. Leman and conducting class under D. Kitayenko).
Laureate of the I International Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg (1993), Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors (1999), and the XIII Malko Competition in Denmark (2001).
He assisted Valery Gergiev at the Mariinsky Theatre (1993-1996) and Alexander Dmitriev at the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. He worked as the Principal Guest Conductor at the Tomsk Symphony Orchestra, as Chief Conductor at the Krasnoyarsk Academic Symphony Orchestra, as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor at the Saratov Region Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.
Now he serves as the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Kuzbass Symphony Orchestra (since 2000) and a Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
He conducted many well-known ensembles: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestras, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, which concert was held at the Wiener Musikverein. Tao Lin recorded a CD with the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra on EMI Records (2002).
He is acclaimed as an opera conductor. His repertoire includes more than 20 operas, which he has led in various theaters. In 2009, Tao Lin conducted the premiere of Tang Jianping’s opera Song of Youth.
He was awarded the honorary title of Laureate of the Kuzbass Prize and in 2014 he recieved the Gratitude of the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation.

Artistic Director of the St Petersburg Music Hall Theatre, Principal Conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra Symphonica ARTica and the Russian Philharmonic, Honoured Artist of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Born in 1965 in Bari (Italy). As a pianist, Fabio Mastrangelo studied at the Conservatories of Bari and Geneva, and the Royal Academy of Music (London); as a conductor — at the Conservatory of Music in Pescara and the University of Toronto. He improved his skills under the guidance of G. Meier and at the masterclasses by L. Bernstein and K. Österreicher.
In 1996 he founded the chamber orchestra Virtuosi di Toronto. Moved to Russia in 2002 and made his debut at the Mikhailovsky Theatre. He was the Principal Conductor of the State Hermitage Orchestra, the Yekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, worked with the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra. In 2007 Mastrangelo started his collaboration with the Mariinsky Theatre.
Since 2013 he has been the Artistic Director of the St Petersburg Music Hall Theatre. He currently serves as Principal Conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra Symphonica ARTica in Yakutia (since 2012) and the Russian Philharmonic - Moscow City Symphony (since 2018), Principal Guest Conductor of the Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra (since 2007), the Ulyanovsk State Academic Symphony Orchestra (since 2021), the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa (since 2021). Artistic Director of the festival All Together Opera in St Petersburg and the Music and Arts Festival Tremolo in Tolyatti.
He has performed at the Arena di Verona, the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, the Bolshoi Theatre, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the St Petersburg Philharmonic. He has conducted the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, etc.
Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy, laureate of St Petersburg Government Prize and the Triumph International prize.

Conductor, professor

The French-American conductor was born in Beirut in 1964 into a musical family. He studied conducting in Los Angeles with P. Boulez, L. Maazel, and F. Leitner. He improved his skills at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena.
Winner of the Grand Prize of the Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors (France, 1991).
He has performed with many leading orchestras, including London, Israel, Rotterdam, Czech, Hong Kong, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestras, the Gewandhausorchester, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, State Orchestras of Spain, Belgium, the USA, Canada, Russian National Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
As an opera conductor, he has worked with leading theatres in Europe and the USA: the Mariinsky Theatre, the Opéra National de Bordeaux, the theatres in San Carlo, Regio, and Massimo.
In 2011 he founded the Touquet International Music Masters festival, which assembles national youth orchestras of Europe. Since 2012 he has been a Professor at the Paris Conservatory, and since 2013 — at the Higher School of Music Education Katarina Gurska in Madrid.
He collaborated with the world-renowned musicians: Maxim Vengerov, Leonidas Kavakos, Vadim Repin, Mischa Maisky, Gidon Kremer, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Lynn Harrell, Mirella Freni, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Leo Nucci, etc.
He was the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonic (2005-2008), Principal Guest Conductor at the Hague Philharmonic, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has performed at prestigious international festivals, including the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Festival in Aix-en-Provence, the Mariinsky’s Stars of the White Nights, the International Bruckner Festival, and the Verdi Festival in Parma.

Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the State Symphony Capella of Russia, People’s Artist of Russia, professor, President of the Rachmaninoff Music Society

Valery Polyansky was born in 1949 in Moscow. He graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory as a choral (with Prof. B. Kulikov) and symphonic conductor (with O. Dimitriadi), then had his postgraduate studies with G. Rozhdestvensky (1977).
While being a student, he organized a Chamber Choir at the Moscow Conservatory (1971). In 1975, at the International Choral Competition Guido d’Arezzo, the Choir won a gold medal and a Golden Bell Award — the symbol of the best choir in the competition. Polyansky himself was awarded as the best conductor in the competition and received a special prize.
From 1977 to 1980, without leaving the choir, Polyansky became the conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre and worked with G. Rozhdestvensky.
In 1980, the Conservatory’s Chamber Choir was turned into the State Chamber Choir of the USSR Ministry of Culture, since 1992 it has become part of the State Symphony Capella of Russia, and V. Polyansky — its artistic director and chief conductor. He has toured with his ensemble in Germany, Great Britain, Japan, the USA, Greece, Croatia, etc.
President of the Rachmaninoff Music Society, he also heads the Rachmaninoff International Competition for Pianists.
V. Polyansky’s repertoire includes classical orchestral and choral works, concert operas, revived and forgotten works created by composers of the past, and modern musical works, including premieres of the operas Gesualdo by A. Schnittke, The Last Days of Pushkin by A. Nikolaev, The Legend of the City of Yelets by A. Tchaikovsky, etc.
He was the chief conductor of the festival Opera Evenings in Gothenburg.
Professor of the Moscow Conservatory, Head of the Division of Opera and Symphonic Conducting.

Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra, People’s Artist of Russia and People’s Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan

Alexander Sladkovsky was born in 1965 in Taganrog. Graduated from the Military Conducting Faculty of the Moscow State Conservatory and the St. Petersburg State Conservatory (class of V. Chernushenko). Prize-winner of the Prokofiev International Competition (St. Petersburg, 1999)
Sladkovsky made his debut as a conductor in 1997 at the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He assisted M. Jansons and M. Rostropovich. He was a conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg State Capella (1997– 2003) and conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra Novaya Rossiya (2006–2010).
Since 2010 he has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra. In 2016 the orchestra presented concerts at the Brucknerhaus in Linz and the Musikverein in Vienna. December 2018 featured a tour to China, while in 2014 (in Japan) and in 2019 (in France) the orchestra participated in the festival La Folle Journée.
Under the direction of A. Sladkovsky Tatarstan National Symphony Orchesta has implemented several major projects with leading record companies: in 2016 with Melodiya recorded the First, Fifth and Ninth Symphonies by Mahler and all of Shostakovich’s symphonies and instrumental concertos. In 2020 and 2021 all of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies and instrumental concertos as well as all symphonic works by Rachmaninoff were recorded with the Sony Classical label. In 2021 Sladkovsky recorded all symphonic works by L. van Beethoven and ballet music by I. Stravinsky.
In 2019 A. Sladkovsky received the Sergei Rachmaninoff International Award.
Since 2021 he has been a Professor of the Opera-Symphonic Conducting Art Division of the N. G. Zhiganov Kazan State Conservatory.

Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, People’s Artist of the USSR

Vladimir Fedoseyev was born in 1932 in Leningrad. Graduated from the State Gnesins Music Teachers Institute and attended a graduate course at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (class of Professor L. Ginsburg). He started his conducting career in the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra after the invitation by E. Mravinsky; his theatrical conducting career also began there — at the State Kirov (Mariinsky) Academic Theatre.
Since 1974, he has been the chief conductor of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra.
As a guest conductor V. Fedoseyev works with: the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Dresden Philharmonic, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. From 1997 to 2004, he was the chief conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to that, he works with opera and ballet theatres around the world, including La Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, and the Zurich Opera House. Since 2017 he has been the musical director of the Moscow Musical Theatre Helikon-Opera.
Many of Vladimir Fedoseyev’s recordings have won the highest international awards, including the Golden Orpheus of the French music publishing house Le Chant du Monde.
Vladimir Fedoseyev is a winner of numerous prizes and awards, including the USSR State Prize, the Order For Services to the Fatherland of all four degrees, the Order of St Vladimir, the Order of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh of the First Degree, the Silver Cross of Merit of the Republic of Austria, and the Order of the Cross of Honour of the First Degree for services to the Republic of Austria Culture. He is an Honorary Professor of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (2018) and the Moscow Conservatory (2021).

Conductor

Born in Kaohsiung, Christopher Chen studied in Australia at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University as a pianist and the Sydney Conservatory as a conductor. He improved his conducting skills at the JHU in Baltimore under the guidance of G. Meyer.
In 2002 — Assistant conductor at the Baltimore Opera and later at the Finnish National Opera. In 2005, he won the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award, followed by an invitation to collaborate with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival. From 2007 to 2011, he was Music director and Chief Conductor of the Jiangsu Symphony Orchestra, professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and Artistic Director of the Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre.
Since September 2013, he has been leading the Academy of Music of the Suzhou University. In 2014, he led the Baroque Camerata Orchestra in Taiwan and the Tapiola Youth Symphony Orchestra in Finland. He has worked with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Athens State Orchestra, and symphony orchestras of the USA, and Asia, including symphony orchestras of Jiangsu, Shanghai Philharmonic, etc.
Since 2016 — General and Artistic Director of the new Center of Performing Arts in Nanjing. Many outstanding musicians and ensembles performed there at his invitation: Z. Mehta, V. Gergiev, A. Netrebko, L. Kavakos, A. Nelsons, A. Sladkovsky, K. Zimerman, Vienna, Munich, Israel, London Philharmonic Orchestras, Chinese National Symphony Orchestra, Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra. Since 2018, the annual Mariinsky Theatre Festival has been held in Nanjing.
In 2019, the conductor made his debut with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia and the Mariinsky Orchestra.
He is one of the Experts on The Thousand Talents Plan — the highest award for foreigners in China.