Kirill Petrenko (Kirill Petrenko).

Kirill Petrenko

Born in Omsk. He began studying music in Feldkirch (Federal State of Vorarlberg, Austria), then continued his studies at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts, where he was taught by the famous conductor of Slovenian origin, Professor Uros Lajovic. He improved his skills by attending various master classes. He successfully participated in several conducting competitions, including the Antonio Pedrotti International Conducting Competition in Trentino (Italy).

He made his debut as an opera conductor in 1995 in Vorarlberg, conducting the opera Let’s Make an Opera by B. Britten. In 1997-99 He worked at the Vienna Volksoper.

In 1999-2002 was the chief conductor at the Meiningen Theater (Germany), where he made his debut, conducting the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by D. Shostakovich, and became the musical director of the sensational production of The Ring of the Nibelungen by R. Wagner (the premieres of the operas included in the tetralogy were successively shown for four evenings), as well as productions of the operas Der Rosenkavalier by R. Strauss, Rigoletto and La Traviata by G. Verdi, The Bartered Bride by B. Smetana, Peter Grimes by B. Britten.

In 2002-07 was chief conductor of the Berlin Comische Opera. Conducted performances of the current repertoire, concerts, was the musical director of productions of the operas The Bartered Bride by B. Smetana, Don Giovanni, Abduction from the Seraglio, Le nozze di Figaro by V.A. Mozart, “Peter Grimes” by B. Britten, “Jenufa” by L. Janacek.

Conducted performances of the Dresden Semper Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Theater Vienna, the Frankfurt Opera and the Lyon Opera, performed at the festivals “Florence Musical May”, “Sounding Bow / KlangBogen” (Vienna), at the Edinburgh and Salzburg festivals. “The Queen of Spades” became his debut performance at the Barcelona Liceu Theater and the Bavarian State Opera (Munich), “Don Giovanni” – at the Paris National Opera (Opera Bastille), “Madama Butterfly” by G. Puccini – at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, “Merry widow” by F. Lehar – at the New York Metropolitan Opera.

Collaborated with the orchestras of Cologne, Munich and Vienna Radio, North German and West German Radio, “RAI” Turin, the Philharmonic Orchestras of Berlin, Duisburg, London and Los Angeles, the London, Vienna and Hamburg Symphony Orchestras, the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Orchestras of Madrid, Florence, Dresden, Lisbon and Genoa.

In 2013 he became musical director of the Bavarian State Opera. In 2015 he was chosen as Principal Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.