makris music society
London
Alexander Polyanichko, an internationally renowned conductor and educator
regularly leads conducting masterclasses in cooperation with organizations such
as Peter the Great Music Academy, Royal Baltic Festival, Hermitage Theatre, and
St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic. A graduate of the Leningrad State
Conservatory and the former student and assistant of the eminent conductor and
pedagogue Ilya Musin (whose students were Yuri Temirkanov, Semyon Bychkov, and
Valery Gergiev, among others), maestro Polyanichko has been one of Musin’s
biggest proponents, carrying the great tradition of the St. Petersburg school of
conducting. Maestro Polyanichko’s artistry, knowledge, his genuine willingness
to share his experiences, his sense of humour, as well as his friendly and
respectful manner of communication create a free exchange of ideas and a spirit
of collaboration, while he and his students search for ways to resolve emerging
issues related to the mastery of conducting, in a comfortable and productive
masterclass atmosphere. Masterclasses traditionally consist of two parts: First
Part, where the music conducted is being accompanied by two experienced
pianists; and the Second Part where the students have the opportunity to work
with a professional symphony orchestra. The dress rehearsal preceding the
concert is where the conductors have a full assestment of their skills, as well
as the final public concert (professionally recorded) as the culmination of the
masterclass. During his twenty or so years of teaching at masterclasses, aestro
MAlexander Polyanichko has worked with conductors from countries around the
world including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile,
China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico,
New Zealand, Oman, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia,
Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States of America. His students have
consistently expressed their appreciation on his pedagogical skills and the
masterclasses, and have gone to conduct many successful performances of their
own in their respective countries and beyond. Formerly a violinist in the
Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Philharmonic Orchestra under Evgeny Mravinsky,
Alexander Polianichko studied conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire
with Prof. Iliya Musin. In December 1988, he was awarded first prize in the
Sixth All-Union Conducting Competition. In February 1989, he was invited by
Maestro V. Gergiev to join to the Mariinsky (Kirov) Theatre as a House
Conductor. Alexander toured with the Company throughout Europe, Asia, and the
United States. In 1994, Polianichko made his London debut conducting English
National Opera’s production of Eugene Onegin. This led to him conducting two
productions of Tchaikovsky’s operas with the Royal Opera Covent Garden: a
revival of The Queen of Spades with Placido Domingo, and a new production of The
Tsarina’s Slippers by Francesca Zambello of Cherevichki. As a guest conductor,
Polianichko has appeared at many renowned opera houses, including the Bolshoi
Theatre in Moscow, Royal Opera House, La Scala, Deutsche Oper, San Francisco
Opera, Australian Opera, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Danish
Royal Opera, Stuttgart Oper, Colorado Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City,
Norwegian Royal Opera, and Swedish Royal Opera. In 1996, he was invited to take
the Opéra National de Paris to New York for their appearances at the Met. The
symphonic orchestras he has conducted around the world include the Saint
Petersburg Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Scottish National Orchestra,
City of Birmingham Symphony, Hallé Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra,
Danish National Radio Orchestra, English and Irish Chamber Orchestras - among
many others. From 1986 to 1989, Polianichko was the Principal Conductor and
Artistic Director of the Belorussian State Chamber Orchestra in Minsk. He also
taught conducting in Belorussian and Leningrad State Conservatoires. From 1996
to 1999, he was the Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta. From
2012 to 2015, he was the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Rostov
Academic Symphony Orchestra. He also served as the professor of the conducting
department of the Rostov State Conservatoire. He was awarded the Honoured Artist
of Russia title in 2009. Polianichko appears at many prestigious music festivals
in Russia and abroad, including Edinburgh, Aldeburgh and Savonlinna, Golden
Mask, White Nights and Chaliapin Opera Festivals, and had the privilege to work
with many world-famous artists and singers, such as Anna Netrebko, Anne Sofie
von Otter, Elena Obraztsova, Dawn Upshaw, Olga Borodina, Makvala Kasrashvili,
Larissa Diadkova, Irina Bogacheva, as well as Placido Domingo, Jonas Kaufmann,
Vladimir Galuzin, Ildar Abdrazakov, Sir Thomas Allen, Pata Burchuladze, Sergey
Leiferkus, John Tomlinson and many others. He participated as the Jury member at
the Rimsky-Korsakov Opera Singers’ Competition (1996), the BBC Cardiff Singer of
the World competition (2011), and the Makris International Conducting
Competition (2019). His featured recordings on DVD include Romeo & Juliet with
Royal Sweden Ballet (2013); Cherevichki/Tsarina’s Slippers with Royal Opera
House Covent Garden (2009); Beyond the Score with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
(2008); as well as television recordings and live radio broadcasts worldwide.
His is featured on various CD/audio recordings on the label Melodia in Russia.
Since 2005, Polianichko gave orchestral masterclasses for the Swedish National
Orchestra Academy, Symphony Orchestra of the Royal College of Music, London,
Chamber Orchestra of the Cambridge University, and Britten-Pears Youth
Orchestra. Since 2002, he has been holding annual conducting masterclasses in
St. Petersburg organized by Peter the Great Music Academy, the Royal Baltic
festival, and the Theatre of Hermitage Museum, to which students come from all
over the world.
