St. Petersburg Orchestras

St. Petersburg State Philharmonic Orchestra

The resident premier orchestra at the Philharmonic Hall, this orchestra holds the distinction of being the oldest orchestra in Russia. It was founded in 1882 by order of Alexander III as the court music choir. Under the reign of Nicholas II, the choir expanded to include an orchestra and became the official court orchestra. The orchestra performed with many brilliant conductors in the early days, including Richard Strauss, Alexander Glazunov and Serge Koussevitzky. After 1917, the orchestra became the Petrograd Philharmonic, then the Leningrad Philharmonic. A series of conductors, foreign and Russian, conducted the orchestra, including Nikolai Malko. The orchestra came into its own in 1938 when it began a new epoch under Evgeny Mravinsky. Read More»»

Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra

The Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest in Russia. Its history dates back to the first orchestra of the St Petersburg Imperial Orchestra, covering a period of over two hundred years. In the distant past, the orchestra of the Board of Imperial Theatres emerged and developed its activities under two conductors. The first of them was composer Caterino Cavos (from 1803 Principal Conductor of the Russian Opera Theatre and, from 1832, Director of the Imperial Theatres’ Orchestras). As head of the ensemble, Cavos conducted not just premieres of his own numerous operas, but was musical director of productions of Mikhail Glinka’s opera A Life for the Tsar. Moreover, he was involved in the Russian premieres… Read More»»

St. Petersburg State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

«An outstanding ensemble of magnificent virtues, ranking among the best orchestras of the world», – these words were written by Austrian newspaper«Wiener Zeitung» about the ST.PETERSBURG ACADEMIC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA at the end of the 1970s. The newest foreign revews confirm the splendid reputation of the ensemble – at its performances both audience and critics recognize unmistakably the true Saint-Petersburg style, faithful to classical traditions and at the same time open to the new and modern. This is the logical result of work of many generations of brilliant musicians – distinguished representatives of domestic conductor school – Evgeny Mravinsky, Karl Eliasberg, Nikolai Rabinovich, Arvid Jansons, Yuri Temirkanov, Alexander Dmitriev… Read More»»

Andreyev State Russian Orchestra

This orchestra began in 1888 as the Imperial Russian Orchestra of folk instruments. One of its great fans was Fyodor Chaliapin, who wrote to its founder Vasily Andreyev, “Dear Vasily Vasilievitch! You treated kindly a pitiful orphan balalaika. From your care and love it has grown up to a wonderful Russian beauty that won the heart of the audience of the whole world!” The orchestra plays the classics as well as folk songs with balalaikas, domras and other instruments unique to Russia, and is known as the best balalaika orchestra in the world. Its director, Dmitry Hochlov has brought the orchestra to the United States and Japan with much acclaim. The orchestra performs at the Capella, the Philharmonic Hall and other locations in St Petersburg. Read More»»

St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra

The St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra — not to be confused with the St. Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra — was established in 1967 as the Orchestra of Ancient and Modern Music. It has become known for its resurrection of Russian works composed during World War II as well as other 20th century compositions. The orchestra performs regularly at the Beloselsky-Belosersksy Palace, once the home of Grand Duke Serge and Grand Duchess Elizabeth (the sister of Empress Alexandra, wife of Nicholas II). The orchestra participates in many music festivals in the city under the baton of Alexander Titov… Read More»»

St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic

This orchestra was founded in 2002 by American Jeffery Meyer and Singapore-born conductor Darrel Ang. The men saw a need for an orchestra that could introduce new works to audiences while programming them with classics such as Mozart and Beethoven. The orchestra is known for its performances of contemporary works by Russian composers and for nurturing young talent. It has a wide repertoire and participates in many music festivals with its unique programs. The orchestra’s principle-performing venue is the Glinka Small Philharmonic Hall. Read More»»

“Sound Ways” New Music Ensemble

The ensemble was founded in St. Petersburg by the Russian composer Aleksandr Radvilovich in 1994 for the purpose of performing the music of contemporary Russian and foreign composers both in Russia and abroad. The base of the ensemble at that time consisted of violin, clarinet and piano and was supplemented by guest musicians. From 1994 through 1999, the ensemble performed yearly in the “Sound Ways Festival” and toured throughout Germany (1994, 1995, 1997), Switzerland (1996), Holland (1997), the Ukraine (1998) and Mongolia (1999). The ensemble did not perform constantly during those years and because of financial reasons decided to disperse in 1999. The ensemble once again reunited, this time with… Read More»»

Carpe Diem

“Carpe Diem” is one of the premier youth Chamber Orchestra in Russia. It is based in Saint-Petersburg under the directorship Raisa Ulumbekova. The “Carpe Diem” was founded on young Saint-Petersburg’s musicians’s initiative – artists of main symphony orchestras of Saint-Petersburg. Debut of the collective took place on 29th of June 2008 in the concert hall of Sheremetev’s palace and made a success. There were perfomed 5th Brandenburg concerto by Bach (soloists – G. Jukova, R. Ulumbekova, I. Dinov), “Simple symphony” by Britten and Chamber symphony by Schostakovich (arrangement of 8th String Quartet). In 2008-2009 concert season orchestra “Carpe Diem” was… Read More»»