Mark Borisovich Gorenstein |

Mark Gorenstein

Mark Gorenstein was born in Odessa. He received his musical education as a violinist at the school. prof. P.S. Stolyarsky and at the Chisinau Conservatory. He worked in the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater, then in the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the USSR under the direction of E.F. Svetlanova. While still an artist of this group, Mark Gorenstein became a laureate of the All-Russian Conducting Competition and began performing with symphony orchestras in Russia and abroad. In 1984 he graduated from the conducting faculty of the Novosibirsk Conservatory.

In 1985 Mark Gorenstein became Principal Conductor of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra (MAV). “He opened a new era in the history of Hungarian symphonic music,” this is how the Hungarian press spoke about the maestro’s activities.

From 1989 to 1992 Mark Gorenstein was the chief conductor of the Busan Symphony Orchestra (South Korea). South Korean Music Magazine wrote, “The Busan Symphony is to South Korea what the Cleveland Symphony is to the United States. But the Cleveland Orchestra took 8 years to become first-class, while the Busan Orchestra took 8 months. Gorenstein is an outstanding conductor and teacher!”

As a guest conductor, the maestro has performed in many countries of the world: Austria, Great Britain, Holland, Spain, Italy, France, Czechoslovakia, Japan and others. An important stage in the creative biography of Mark Gorenstein was his activity in the Russian State Symphony Orchestra “Young Russia”, created by him in 1993. For 9 years, the orchestra has grown into one of the best symphony ensembles in our country, has found its own significant place in its musical life. This first-class group successfully toured in many countries of the world, performed with brilliant soloists and conductors, recorded 18 discs released by the Russian Season, Harmonia Mundi, Pope Music companies.

On July 1, 2002, Mark Gorenstein was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia. He came to the illustrious band after a difficult period in its history with the firm intention of reviving the former glory of the State Orchestra and during his work he achieved outstanding results.

“First of all, I would talk about the merit of Mark Gorenstein, who recreated a simply unique team. Today it is without a doubt one of the best bands in the world” (Saulius Sondeckis).

With the advent of Gorenstein, the creative life of the orchestra again becomes full of bright events. The team participated in large events that received significant public outcry (the festivals Rodion Shchedrin: Self-Portrait, Mozartiana and Musical Offering in the Moscow Region and in Kurgan, concerts of 1000 Cities of the World of the international charity program Stars of the World for Children ), recorded several video and audio CDs (works by A. Bruckner, G. Kancheli, A. Scriabin, D. Shostakovich, E. Elgar and other composers).

Since 2002, the orchestra has been on tour in Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Turkey, France, Switzerland, and the CIS countries. In 2008, after a 12-year break, he made a triumphant tour of the United States, in the same year he performed with great success in Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus, and in 2009-2010. in Germany, China and Switzerland. A significant place in the busy tour schedule of GASO is occupied by concerts in Russian cities.

In January 2005, the State Orchestra became the first Russian ensemble to receive the prestigious international Supersonic Award for a disc with a recording of D. Shostakovich’s Chamber and Tenth Symphonies conducted by M. Gorenstein released by Melodiya.

In 2002, Mark Gorenstein was awarded the title of “People’s Artist of the Russian Federation”, in 2005 the maestro was awarded the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of culture for concert programs in 2003–2004, in 2006 he was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree.

Source: Moscow Philharmonic website