Ural Philharmonic Orchestra

Founded in 1936, Ural Philharmonic Orchestra is a Russian symphony orchestra, marveled nationally and abroad for its superb performing quality and flexibility in acquiring new repertoire. The orchestra consists of more than 100 musicians and performs all major Western European and Russian works from the classical and romantic periods, as well as works by contemporary composers.

The Ural Philharmonic Orchestra is based in Yekaterinburg, the 4th largest Russian city (population: 1,5 mln) situated in the Ural region. Before the Covid-19 crisis, the Orchestra performed over 100 concerts and more than 70 programs per year, both at its domicile, the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Hall, and on its numerous national and international tours. Thanks to the Philharmonic’s innovative Digital Concert Hall capacities, audiences in the remote and rural areas have regular access to the Orchestra’s concerts streamed into the region’s public libraries and cultural centres.

Founded in 1936, Ural Philharmonic Orchestra is a Russian symphony orchestra, marveled nationally and abroad for its superb performing quality and flexibility in acquiring new repertoire. The orchestra consists of more than 100 musicians and performs all major Western European and Russian works from the classical and romantic periods, as well as works by contemporary composers. 

The Ural Philharmonic Orchestra is based in Yekaterinburg, the 4th largest Russian city (population: 1,5 mln) situated in the Ural region. Before the Covid-19 crisis, the Orchestra performed over 100 concerts and more than 70 programs per year, both at its domicile, the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Hall, and on its numerous national and international tours. Thanks to the Philharmonic’s innovative Digital Concert Hall capacities, audiences in the remote and rural areas have regular access to the Orchestra’s concerts streamed into the region’s public libraries and cultural centres.

Led by the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Dmitry Liss who has headed the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra since 1995, the Orchestra accomplished over 20 international tours, including those in Spain, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Japan, China, Czech Republic and the United States, having performed in the Pleyel, Berlin Philharmonic, Arsenal, Debussy Hall, Corum Opera Berlioz, Palais des Congrès de Paris, Beethovenhalle, Wiener Konzerthaus, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Elbphilharmonie, Brucknerhaus Linz, Stefaniensaal, Royal Concertgebouw, Auditorio de Murcia, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Tokyo International Forum, Culture and Congress Center in Switzerland, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Tonhalle and Victoria Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Concert Hall and New Stage of the Mariinsky Theater, and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. 

Over the years, the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra has worked with many outstanding Russian and foreign musicians, including conductors Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Leif Segerstam, Krzysztof Penderecki, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Fedoseev, Alexander Lazarev, Dmitry Kitaenko, Valery Gergiev, Klaus Tennstedt, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Inoue Michiyoshi, Hans Jorg Albrecht, Fabio Mastrangelo, Eliahu Inbal, Andrey Boreiko, Guintaras Rinkevisius, Dimitris Botinis, and soloists – Mstislav Rostropovich, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Boris Berezovsky, Denis Matsuev, Freddy Kempf, Nikolai Lugansky, Yuri Bashmet, Nikolai Petrov, Vadim Repin, Sergey Krylov, Alexander Knyazev, Boris Andrianov, Viktor Tretyakov, Elisso Virsaladze, Natalia Gutman, Liana Isakadze, Peter Donohoe, Antje Weithaas, Olga Borodina, Alena Baeva, Benjamin Grosvenor, Victor Julien-Laferrière, Henri Demarquette, Olga Peretyatko, Behzod Abduraimov, Dmitry Masleev, Vadym Kholodenko and others. 

The Orchestra participated in numerous international festivals such as Beethovenfest Bonn, Bodenseefestival, La Folle Journée, Le Festival de Radio France, Festival International de Piano à la Roque d’Anthéron, Le Festival de Musique Classique à Saint-Riquier, Nuits de la Citadelle à Sisteron, Festival of Symphony Orchestras of the World, Harbin Summer Music Festival, Boris Berezovsky Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Rheingau Musik Festival and others. In 2016 Ural Philharmonic Orchestra was invited to perform together with the Harbin Symphony Orchestra, at the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. 

The Orchestra discography encounters 36 CDs with Sony Classical, Warner Classics International, and Mirare record labels. Their Russian Light album (Sony Classical, 2018) with soprano Olga Peretyatko is the ICMA (2017) nominee and winner of OPUS Klassik Award (2018). 2020/21 saw the Signum Classics release of Gabriel Prokofiev’s concertos recorded by Ural Philharmonic Orchestra under Aleksey Bogorad with Branford Marsalis (saxophone), Boris Andrianov (cello), Joby Burgess (bass drum) and DJ Mr. Switch (turntables). 

The Orchestra’s concerts were aired by leading broadcasters, including Radio Russia, Radio France, France Musique, TV ARTE, NHK and Kultura. In 2020 the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Dmitry Liss received the prestigious national Music Critics Award “for the boldness and conceptuality of the symphonic programs of the 2019/20 season, including the Turangalîla-Symphonie by Olivier Messiaen and The Raft of the Medusa by Hans Werner Henze”. 

The Orchestra regularly commissions works from acclaimed contemporary composers. In different years UPO collaborated with Toshio Hosokawa, Ivan Fedele, Alexander Tchaikovsky, Leonid Desyatnikov, René Koering, Eun-Hwa Cho, Anton Batagov, and Olga Viktorova. The Orchestra is a proud owner of rare string instruments by Bergonzi, Gragnani and Vuillaume purchased with support from the Philharmonic Orchestra Fund established in 1996.