Vasily Petrenko

Vasily Petrenko is an acclaimed Russian classical music conductor who has appeared with many other orchestras around the world and made his debut with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) in 2004 and was named principal conductor in 2005. He was principal conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain from 2008 to 2013 and he has been chief conductor at the Oslo Philharmonic in Norway since 2013. He was named Young Artist of the Year in the Gramophone Classic Music Awards in 2007 and Artist of the Year in 2017. His 2017 recording of 'Peter and the Wolf' with the RLPO narrated by Alexander Armstrong topped the UK Official Specialist Chart.

Born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), he studied at the St. Petersburg Capella Boys Music School and then the St. Petersburg Conservatoire. Following victories in international conducting competitions, he became resident conductor of the Mikhailovsky Theatre (formerly the Mussorgsky Memorial Theatre of the St Petersburg State Opera and Ballet) from 1994 to 1997 and chief conductor of the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2007. He also serves as chief conductor of the European Youth Orchestra and is the principal guest conductor of the Mikhailovsky Theatre. The 2010 album 'Hilary Hahn Plays Higdon & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos' with the RLPO conducted by Petrenko went to number nine on Billboard's Heatseeker Albums Chart. In 2017, he released 'Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring' with the RLPO and his 2018 dates included more performances in Liverpool and Oslo and also with the London Philharmonic at London's Royal Festival Hall and the Brighton Dome.