Mikhail Agrest Conductor

Biography

German based Russian - American conductor Mikhail Agrest, the current Music Chief Conductor at Stuttgart Ballet is recognized as one of the most successful conductors of his generation. He has conducted operas at venues such as the Metropolitan Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Opernhaus Zurich, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Mariinsky Theatre, Finnish National Opera, Swedish National Opera, English National Opera, Scottish Opera, and Opera Australia.

Maestro Agrest’s recent commitments include a concert with Olga Peretyatko and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, symphonic concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra of China in Beijing and at Bari Teatro Petruzzelli, Eugene Onegin and Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the State Opera of Hannover, and Tosca at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe. Furthermore, he is involved in ballet productions at Bayerisches Staatsballett, Paris Opera Ballet, Dresden Semperoper, Royal Opera House London,among others.

Additionally, Mo. Agrest has led concerts with orchestras including Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Staatskapelle Dresden, Danish National Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra: London, St. Petersburg, Dresden, Netherlands, Helsinki, Stockholm, Taiwan, Seoul, and Bremen Philharmonic orchestras. His notable work with the BBC Symphony includes a Gubaidulina Festival at the Barbican and a recording of Rodion Shchedrin’s Concerto Parlando. Following the success of a program with Staatskapelle Dresden, Mr. Agrest was invited to lead a new production of Shostakovich’s Moscow- Cheryomushki, directed by Christiane Mielitz.

In the recent seasons, Mikhail Agrest made his Canadian debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and returned to the Seattle Symphony, Bremer Philharmoniker and London Philharmonic Orchestra. His opera projects included La traviata and Weinberger’s Švanda dudák at Semperoper Dresden, as well as a new production of Eugene Onegin and La Boheme at the Finnish National Opera.

Agrest honed his craft at the Mariinsky Theatre for over a decade, building a substantial body of operatic and symphonic repertoire and gaining crucial insights into orchestra development and artistic leadership. He has collaborated with renowned singers such as Anna Netrebko, Ildar Abdrazakov, Amanda Roocroft, Stuart Skelton, Catherine Malfitano, Vladimir Galouzine, Olga Borodina, and Ekaterina Semenchuk, among others, in a repertoire of more than 40 operas.

A scion of the great Russian conducting tradition, he studied conducting at St. Petersburg Conservatory under the guidance of the legendary Professors Ilya Musin and Mariss Jansons. Agrest immigrated to the United States with his family as a teenager and went on to earn a degree in violin performance from Indiana University, where he studied under the esteemed Professor Joseph Gingold

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