Vasily Petrenko has been announced as the new artistic director of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov'. He will succeed fellow Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski, who has held the role since 2011. Petrenko is due to take on the directorship in September 2021, at the same time as he begins his tenure as music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. He already has a close relationship with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra, having been its principal guest conductor since 2016.
Petrenko is currently principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, where he has been based for 15 years, since becoming the youngest ever principal conductor in the orchestra's history. His time in Liverpool comes to an end at the end of this season.
Jurowski, meanwhile, is also about to embark on a new venture as he hands over the baton at the end of this season to Edward Gardner at the London Philharmonic Orchestra. As well as conducting the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, he will be taking over as music director of the Bavarian State Opera.
Until the end of the 2019/20 season, Petrenko was splitting his time between the RLPO and the Oslo Philharmonic, where his contract was extended in 2015 after 11 years with the Norwegian orchestra.
