Around the Music Festival

Russian conductor Aleksandr Vedernikov died in Moscow on the 29th due to complications from the new coronavirus. He was 56 years old. It was announced by the Royal Danish Opera, where he has been the principal conductor since 2018.

Vedernikov was born in Moscow. His father was a bass singer who was active as a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater. His mother was a pianist and organist who was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory.

After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory, he joined the conductor of the Danchenko Music Theater in Moscow from 1988 (-1991) and was also the conductor of the Moscow Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra (-1995).

In 1995, he became the first artistic director and chief conductor of the current Moscow City Symphony Orchestra (Russian Philharmonic Orchestra), and served until 2004.

In 2001, he became music director of the Bolshoi Theater at the young age of 37, but resigned in 2009 due to conflict with management.

After that, in 2009, he became the principal conductor of the Odense Symphony Orchestra in Denmark. After retiring in 2018, he was Principal Conductor of the Royal Danish Opera House in Copenhagen.

Photo：BBC　/　Chris Christodoulou