Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory Concert Symphony Orchestra was created in September, 2007 upon an initiative of Prof. Gennady Rozhdestvensky, People’s Artist of the USSR, and Prof. Tigran Alikhanov, People’s Artist of Russia (the Conservatory Rector in 2005–09). The Orchestra is headed by Prof. Anatoly Levin, Honored Artist of Russia. The current Orchestra Director is Darya Dmitriyeva.
According to the organizers’ idea, the group had both to provide the graduate and postgraduate students of the Moscow Conservatory’s Opera and Symphony Orchestra Conducting Department with practice necessary to master their conducting skills and to carry out its full-time concert performance activities.
Since 2008, the Orchestra has been honored to open every concert season at the Moscow Conservatory Great Hall. In addition to performances given there, the Orchestra also recites at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic, the Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow International Performing Arts Center, the State Kremlin Palace and other prestigious concert halls, and its performances are accepted with permanent success. Upon Maestro Rozhdestvensky’s initiative, the Russian premiere of Benjamin Britten’s opera Death in Venice was held in 2013 at the Moscow Conservatory Great Hall.
The Orchestra has been a permanent participant in various international competitions and festivals. Among them are the Goedicke organists’ competition, the Oystrakh violinists’ competition, the Skryabin pianists’ competition, the Moscow Conservatory Competition for Wind Instrument Performers and Percussionists, and others regular events.
It is at every season that the Orchestra presents a variety of concert programs dedicated to outstanding musicians’ and composers’ anniversaries. Among them are: Richard Strauss (150’), Sergey Rachmaninoff (140’), Leo Ginzburg (115’), David Oystrakh (100’), Gara Garaev (90’), Gennady Rozhdestvensky (85’), Rodion Shchedrin (80’) and some others.
Vladimir Ashkenazi, Alexander Lazarev, Mikhail Pletnev, Valery Polyansky, Alexander Rudin, Saulius Sondeckis, Vladimir Spivakov and other famous conductors worked with the Orchestra. The group also cooperated with Boris Berezovsky, Placido Domingo, Maxim Fedotov, Igor Gavrysh, Natalia Gutman, Nikolay Lugansky, Alexei Lyubimov, Denis Matsuev, Ekaterina Mechetina, Polina Osetinskaya, Nikolay Petrov, Kirill Rodin, Zurab Sotkilava, Alexander Trostyansky, Eliso Virsaladze, Mikhail Voskresensky and many other renowned musicians.
