State Academic Symphony
Orchestra "Evgeny Svetlanov",
Vladimir Jurowski,
Pavel Milyukov, Vladislav Lavrik

State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia (Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra) is one of the oldest symphony ensembles in the country: in 2021 it has celebrated its 85th anniversary. The first performance of the orchestra conducted by Alexander Gauk and Erich Kleiber, took place on October 5th, 1936 in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

Over the years, the State Orchestra was directed by outstanding musicians: Alexander Gauk (1936–1941), Natan Rakhlin (1941–1945), Konstantin Ivanov (1946–1965) and Yevgeny Svetlanov (1965–2000). In 2005, the ensemble was named after Yevgeny Svetlanov. In 2000–2002, the orchestra was headed by Vasily Sinaisky, in 2002–2011 – by Mark Gorenstein, in 2011–2021 – by Vladimir Jurowski, in 2021–2022  by Vasily Petrenko. Since 2024, Philipp Chizhevsky has been Artistic Director of the orchestra.

The orchestra’s concerts were held at the most famous concert venues in the world including the Great Hall of the Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, the Column Hall of the House of Unions, the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Pleyel in Paris, the Colon National Opera in Buenos Aires, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. In 2013, the orchestra for the first time performed in the Red Square in Moscow.

Herman Abendroth, Ernest Ansermet, Leo Blech, Nikolai Golovanov, Kurt Sanderling, Otto Klemperer, Kirill Kondrashin, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Mazur, Nikolai Malko, Igor Markevich, Yevgeny Mravinsky, Charles Munch, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Mstislav Rostropovich, Saulus Sondeckis, Igor Stravinsky, Mariss Jansons, Andrey Boreyko, Alexander Vedernikov, Valery Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Alexander Lazarev, Alexander Sladkovsky, Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Thomas Zehetmair, Mikhail Jurowski, Neeme Jarvi and other outstanding conductors directed at the conductor's desk of the orchestra.

Famous musicians and ensembles performed with the orchestra including singers Irina Arkhipova, Galina Vishnevskaya, Montserrat Caballé, Sergei Lemeshev, Elena Obraztsova, Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Maria Guleghina, Placido Domingo, Jonas Kaufmann, Sergei Leiferkus, pianists Emil Gilels, Van Cliburn, Heinrich Neuhaus, Nikolai Petrov, Sviatoslav Richter, Maria Yudina, Valery Afanassiev, Boris Berezovsky, Elisso Virsaladze, Yevgeny Kissin, Nikolai Lugansky, Denis Matsuev and Grigory Sokolov, violinists LeonidKogan, Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrakh, Boris Belkin, Maxim Vengerov, Gidon Kremer, Victor Pikaysen, Vadim Repin, Vladimir Spivakov and Victor Tretyakov, violist Yuri Bashmet , cellists Mstislav Rostropovich, Natalia Gutman, Alexander Knyazev and Alexander Rudin, as well as Sveshnikov State Academic Russian Choir and Yurlov State Academic Choir Capella of Russia.

In recent years, the list of soloists collaborating with the ensemble has been recruited with the names of such singers as Ildar Abdrazakov, Dinara Alieva, Aida Garifullina, Khibla Gerzmava, Dmitry Korchak, Elisabeth Kulman, Jose Kura, Vasily Ladyuk, Julia Lezhneva, Waltraud Meier, Anna Netrebko and Rene Pape, pianists Marc-Andre Hamelin, Leif Ove Andsnes, Rudolf Buchbinder, Simon Trpceski, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Mitsuko Uchida, violinists Kristof Barati, Ilya Gringolts, Alina Ibragimova, Leonidas Kavakos, Patricia Kopatchinskaya, Sergei Krylov, Julian Rakhlin, Julia Fischer, Thomas Zehetmair, Nikolai Znaider and Pinchas Zuckerman, violist Maxim Rysanov. Considerable attention is also paid to joint work with young musicians, including conductors Maxim Emelyanychev, Dmitry Matvienko, Marius Stravinsky, Valentin Uryupin and Philipp Chizhevsky, pianists Andrei Gugnin, Lucas Debargue, Philipp Kopachevsky and Dmitry Masleyev, violinists Alena Baeva, Pavel Milyukov and Aylen Pritchin, cellist Alexander Ramm.

Having visited abroad for the first time in 1956, the orchestra has since represented Russian art in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Denmark, Italy, Canada, China, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, USA, Thailand, France, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan and many other countries.

The discography of the ensemble includes hundreds of LP records and CDs released by leading recording companies in Russia and abroad (Melodiya, Bomba-Peter, Delos, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, BMG, Naxos, Chandos, Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm, BelAir, ICA Classics, Pentatone, Toccata Classics, Fancymusic and others). A special place in this collection belongs to the Anthology of Russian Symphonic Music, which includes audio recordings of works by Russian composers from Glinka to Stravinsky (conducted by Yevgeny Svetlanov). The TV channels such as Mezzo, medici.tv, Russia-1 and Kultura, radio Orpheus made recordings of the orchestra’s concerts.

Recently, the State Orchestra performed at the G. Enescu Festival in Bucharest, Another Space, Universe is Svetlanov! festivals and the XIV Guitar Virtuosos Moscow International Festival, Summer. Music. Museum  Festival in Istra; performed world premieres of works by Alexander Vustin, Victor Yekimovsky, Efrem Podgaits, Sergei Slonimsky, Vladimir Nikolaev, Alexei Retinsky, as well as Russian premieres of works by John Adams, Brett Dean, Gerard Grisey, Victor Kissin, Gyorgy Kurtag, Valentin Silvestrov, Olivier Messiaen, Rodion Shchedrin, Carl Orff, Vladimir Tarnopolsky and Karlheinz Stockhausen; took part in the  International Tchaikovsky Competition, the Grand Piano Competition for young pianists; presented the annual cycle of Stories with Orchestra educational concerts eight times; visited the cities of Russia, Austria, Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, Germany, Spain, Romania, Turkey, China, Japan. Chamber evenings with the participation of soloists of the orchestra are also regularly held.

Since 2016, the State Orchestra has been implementing a special project to support professional composer creativity involving close cooperation of the ensemble with contemporary Russian authors. The first in the history composer in residence was Alexander Vustin. For outstanding creative achievements, the collective has been bearing the honorary title of “academic” since 1972; in 1986 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, in 2006, 2011 and 2017 it dignified the gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation.

One of today’s most sought-after conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was born in Moscow in 1972, and completed the first part of his musical studies at the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1990 he relocated with his family to Germany, continuing his studies at the Musikhochschule of Dresden and Berlin, studying conducting with Rolf Reuter and vocal coaching with Semion Skigin. In 1995 he made his international debut at the Wexford Festival conducting Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night, and the same year saw his debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden with Nabucco.

Jurowski is Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. He takes up the position of General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich from the 2021/22 season, stepping down from his highly-acclaimed fifteen year tenure as Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, to become their Conductor Emeritus. In addition he holds the titles of Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Artistic Director of the George Enescu International Festival, Bucharest. He has previously held the positions of First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997–2000), Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2000–2003), Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (2005–2009), Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2001–2013) and Artistic Director of the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra (2011–2021). 

Vladimir Jurowski enjoys close relationships with the world’s most distinguished artistic institutions, and has collaborated with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, New York Philharmonic, Chicago and Boston Symphonies, and the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras. He is a regular guest at the BBC Proms, Musikfest Berlin, and the Dresden, Lucerne, Schleswig Holstein, Grafenegg and Rostropovich Festivals. 

A committed operatic conductor, Jurowski’s recent highlights include Die Frau ohne Schatten in Berlin and Bucharest with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester, semi-staged performances of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, Die Walkure and Siegfried with the London Philharmonic, Wozzeck, Der Rosenkavalier and Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Henze’s The Bassarids and Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron at the Komische Oper Berlin, his acclaimed debut at the Salzburg Festival with Wozzeck, and his first return to Glyndebourne as a guest conductor, in the world premiere production of Brett Dean’s Hamlet. He has conducted Parsifal at the Welsh National Opera, War and Peace at the Opera National de Paris, Eugene Onegin at Teatro alla Scala Milan, Ruslan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre, and Iolanta and Der Teufel von Loudon at the Semperoper Dresden, as well as Die Zauberflöte, La Cenerentola, Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Don Giovanni, The Rake’s Progress, The Cunning Little Vixen, Ariadne auf Naxos and Peter Eötvös’ Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne Opera. 

In the 2021/22 season, Jurowski returns to the Staatskapelle Dresden, conducts new productions of Shostakovich’s The Nose, and Penderecki’s Die Teufel von Loudun at the Bayerische Staatsoper, and showcases a wealth of symphonic repertoire from Mozart, Liszt, Enescu and Elgar, to Suk, Britten, Nikodijevic and Firsova, with particular focuses on Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Bruckner with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester, and Shostakovich and Mahler with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. 

Jurowski’s discography with the London Philharmonic Orchestra includes the complete symphonies of Brahms and Tchaikovsky, and works ranging from Haydn and Beethoven, through Mahler, Zemlinsky, Holst, Rachmaninov, and Szymanowski, to Turnage, Denisov, Martynov and Silvestrov. For Pentatone Records he has recorded Schnittke’s Third Symphony, Mahler’s Totenfeier and Das Lied von der Erde, and Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra with the Rundfunk-

Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Tchaikovsky’s ballets and an ongoing series of Prokofiev symphonies with the State Academic Symphony of Russia and a series of Russian works with the Russian National Orchestra, and for Hyperion works by Mendelssohn and Mahler with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Shostakovich’s violin concertos with the State Academic Symphony of Russia. His tenure as Music Director at Glyndebourne has been documented in numerous CD and DVD releases including award-winning productions of Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Ariadne auf Naxos, Falstaff, La Cenerentola, Rachmaninov’s The Miserly Knight and Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery. Other DVD releases include Hansel und Gretel from the Metropolitan Opera New York, his first concert as London Philharmonic Orchestra’s principal conductor featuring works by Wagner, Berg and Mahler, and DVDs with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Beethoven symphonies 4 and 7) and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Strauss and Ravel), all released by Medici Arts.

Pavel Milyukov was born in Perm (Russia) in 1984. A graduate of the Academic Music College at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, he then continued his studies at the Conservatory itself, including the assistantship programme under Vladimir Ivanov. Further studies brought him to the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz and to the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, under Professor Boris Kuschnir. 

Pavel Milyukov has been a prize-winner of renowned international competitions in Kloster Schoental (2nd Prize, 2003), Astana (Grand Prix, 2008), Seoul (2nd Prize, 2012), Robert Canetti Competition (held in Hungary, 1st Prize, 2005), Vibrarte in Patis (1st Prize, as part of Con Spirito trio, 2008), Niccolo Paganini Competition in Moscow (2nd Prize, 1st Prize was not awarded, 2007), David Oistrakh Competition in Moscow (2nd Prize, 2008), and Aram Khachaturian Competition in Yerevan (1st Prize, 2012). In 2010, he was awarded the 2nd Prize of the 1st All-Russian Music Contest in Moscow, while 2015 brought him the 3rd Prize of the 15th International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Pavel has been enjoying an intense concert schedule, touring across Europe, Japan, South and North Korea, China, Brazil, performing and delivering masterclasses in many Russian cities. He has appeared alongside leading Russian and international orchestras, such as Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra under Pavel Kogan, and Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others, playing under the baton of Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Spivakov, Vladimir Fedoseev, Mikhail Pletnev, Yuri Simonov, Vladimir Jurowski, Kristjan Järvi, James Conlon, Alexander Sladkovsky, Vasily Petrenko, Pavel Kogan, and Maria Eklund. 

He has been granted two fellowships from the Saint Petersburg Music House and Rossiya Bank. In 2008–2012, Pavel Milyukov was a soloist at the Saint Petersburg Music House. He also took part in the '21st century stars', a programme by the Moscow Philharmonic. 

In 2016, he was awarded the Russian Order of Friendship. Since 2016, Pavel Milyukov has been teaching at the Moscow Conservatory Violin Department under Professor Vladimir Ivanov and delivering masterclasses on a regular basis. 

He plays the 'ex-Szigeti' violin made by Pietro Giovanni Guarneri and provided by Neva Foundation (Switzerland).

Vladislav Lavrik, one of the most talented musicians of his generation, is Russia’s finest trumpeter and a rising young conductor. Vladislav is artistic director and chief conductor of The Tula Symphony and The Chamber Orchestra of Orenburg Philharmonie. Recognized for achievements in both classical and jazz performance styles, he was appointed principal trumpet of the Russian National Orchestra at the age of 20, the youngest person to hold a principal chair in the history of the orchestra. Since 2008 Lavrik has been a professor of the trumpet faculty of the Moscow State Conservatory. In 2011 he was elected to the board of the International Trumpet Guild, the first Russian to be given this recognition and responsibility. In 2016 he received the Russian Presidential Prize for Young Artists, the country’s highest honor for young artists.

In 2010 Lavrik achieved his conducting debut with the Russian National Orchestra at Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. Since then he has led the RNO in its regular concert season and in festival concerts, including the 2014 program dedicated to Serge Kussevitsky. Mikhail Pletnev, the RNO’s founding conductor, invited Lavrik to the podium for his 2012 return to the concert stage as solo pianist, and Lavrik again led the RNO with Pletnev as soloist in their 2015 concerts in South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan. The 2013 Minnesota Beethoven Festival marked Lavrik’s American conducting debut, leading the RNO in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6. 

In addition to his work with the RNO, Lavrik has guest-conducted other leading Russian orchestras, including the Svetlanov State Symphony orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra “New Russia,” the State Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra “Musica Viva,” the Krasnoyarsk Academic Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Urdmurtia, the State Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and the State Wind Orchestra. 

Born to a family of musicians, Lavrik’s early training included both piano and trumpet. After completing the Master’s Degree in trumpet performance at Moscow State Conservatory, he completed the opera and symphonic conducting program at the Gnesin Academy of Music, where his major professor was Maestro Vladimir Fedoseyev. Lavrik has also studied with Horia Andreescu, Teodor Currentzis, Mark Elder, Neeme and Paavo Jarvi, Vladimir Jurovsky, Alfredo Naseda, Vassily Petrenko, and Mark Singer. In 2014 he was invited to assist Maestro Kent Nagano leading the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, preparing Saint-Saens’ Symphony No. 3. On several occasions Lavrik has led the Gnesin Academy Opera Series in Tchaikovsky’s Evgeny Onegin. 

Lavrik is an organizer and leader of brass music festivals and ensembles, as well as a sought-after member of trumpet competition juries in the United States and Europe. He is founder and artistic director the Russian National Orchestra Brass Quintet and of the International Brass Days Festival of the Moscow State Conservatory. In recent Brass Days festivals Lavrik has premiered new arrangements by Evgeny Ratner of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, conducting a large brass and percussion ensemble in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. 

As a conductor and trumpet soloist Lavrik is actively involved in music projects for children, including the RNO’s established series “Magic of Music.” During 2011 and 2012 he visited orphanages and special schools in the United States and Russia with a program of music therapy for children with disabilities. In 2013 he both conducted and performed in premiere performances of the children’s musical Hermitage Cats Save the Day by Chris Brubeck in Washington, DC, Tuscaloosa, Alabama and St. Petersburg, Russia. His recording with the Russian National Orchestra of Alexander Rosenblatt’s Alice in Wonderland with narrator Alexander Oleshko was released in 2013. In 2011 he released a solo album “Meditations” featuring music by Russian composers.