The Artistic Director and Chief Conductor is Alexey Rubin
The leading ensemble of the Southern Urals was founded in 2019 by a decision of the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region with Denis Matsuev’s, the People's Artist of Russia, backing. The Musical Review recognized the creation of the State Symphony Orchestra of the Chelyabinsk Region as the event of the year. Nationwide presentations of the ensemble were successfully held at the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella, on the closing day of the VIII International Cultural Forum, and in 2021 at the Zaryadye concert hall, where Denis Matsuev performed as a soloist.
From its founding until February 2024, the ensemble had been led by Adik Abdurakhmanov, the outstanding musical figure of the Southern Urals, conductor, Honored Artist of Russia, and professor. His name is forever inscribed in the history of the orchestra, both as a father behind the precedent of creating the ensemble in the million-plus city and as a leader of talents.
The orchestra regularly performs at the best concert venues in the country: the Zaryadye Concert Hall, the concert hall of the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella, the Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, and the Grand Hall of the Shostakovich St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonia.
The orchestra is a regular participant of festivals like "Denis Matsuev Presents…", the International Festival of Yu. Bashmet in South Ural, and large-scale creative projects both within the country and abroad (UAE/Dubai, Uzbekistan/Tashkent). In 2022, the orchestra demonstrated excellent form, winning the award in the Event category of the prestigious 440 Hz Award! The orchestra presented the Prokofiev program from the Words and Music to You cycle, together with Julian Makarov, a Russian actor and TV presenter.
In 2022, the ensemble went on its first overseas tour, presenting six concert programs at the Theatre, Mall of the Emirates, becoming a participant in the II International Music Festival Symphonic Middle East (UAE, Dubai). The list of conductors included Anton Lubchenko, Russian conductor and composer, Gianluca Marcianò and Massimiliano Caldi (Italy), and Ilya Derbilov, representative of the St. Petersburg conducting school.
In autumn 2023, the orchestra toured Tashkent (Uzbekistan). The Turkeston Palace was bursting with applause for two consecutive nights. The orchestra presented two programs of Russian classical music masterpieces: Scheherazade by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and The Nutcracker by P.I. Tchaikovsky.
An important event of the past year was the orchestra’s participation in the VII All-Russian Symphony Forum, where a unique program was presented. The orchestra performed Sergei Prokofiev's Fourth Symphony and the all-Russian premiere of the suite Night of the Mayas by Mexican composer S. Revueltas. The Night of the Mayas program was also performed at the IX St. Petersburg Cultural Forum concert in the hall of the Hall of the Shostakovich St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonia conquering the hearts of the audience.
The Orchestra of the Chelyabinsk Region has several concert series of its own and collaborates with leading soloists of the country, such as Denis Matsuev (piano), Nikolai Lugansky (piano), Boris Berezovsky (piano), Hibla Gerzmava (soprano), Aida Garifullina (soprano), Veronika Dzhioeva (soprano), Julian Rachlin (violin), Andrey Baranov (violin), Pavel Milyukov (violin), Gayane Kazazyan (violin), Sergey Dogadin (violin), Alexander Buzlov (cello), Alexander Ramm (cello), Boris Andrianov (cello), and others.
The orchestra has performed with the conductors: Adik Abdurakhmanov (Russia), Ivan Nikiforchin (Russia), Yuri Bashmet (Russia), Ivan Rudin (Russia), Massimiliano Caldi (Italy), Anton Lubchenko (Russia), Gianluca Marcianò (Italy), Freddy Cadena (Ecuador), Mikhail Kirchhoff (Russia), Eduardo Garcia Barrios (Mexico), Kenichi Shimura (Japan), Sergey Ferulev (Russia), Vladimir Dobrovolsky (Russia), Kim Sang (South Korea).
The following theatre and cinema stars have participated in music and literary programs with the orchestra: Yevgeny Mironov, Marina Aleksandrova, Sergey Garmash, Maxim Averin, Sergey Shakurov, Yevgeny Knyazev, Olga Budina, Nonna Grishayeva, Ilze Liepa, and others.
- Orchestra Recordings:
- CD recording of The Serenade, after Plato's Symposium, by Leonard Bernstein for solo violin, strings and percussion.
Soloist: Junko Mozume (violin, Japan), conductor Kenichi Shimura (Japan) - CD recording of original songs by Oleg Akkuratov
- CD recording “Calmly and Simply” with Oleg Mitiaev, the People’s Artist of Russia
Alexey Rubin was born in 1987 in Leningrad. He graduated from the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory with two degrees: in choral conducting with Prof. Valentin Nesterov (graduated in 2010) and in symphonic conducting with Prof. Yuri Simonov (graduated in 2015).
He has participated in masterclasses with Yuri Simonov, Riccardo Muti, Vassily Sinaisky, Yuri Temirkanov, Victor Yampolsky, and Bruno Weil.
He is a Laureate of the III Ilya Musin All-Russian Open Competition of Young Conductors of Symphonic Orchestras (Kostroma, 2013) and the II All-Russian Music Competition in Moscow.
In August 2024, he was appointed the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the State Symphony Orchestra of the Chelyabinsk Region.
Since September 2022 he has been the Conductor of the Novaiya Rossiya State Symphony Orchestra.
Since 2018, he has been working with the Russian National Youth Symphony Orchestra.
From 2015 to 2022, he was an Assistant Conductor of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic.
In 2023, he was awarded with the Honourary Certificate from the President of the Russian Federation for his significant contribution to the organization and implementation of the events in Russian culture.
In the same year, together with the Svetlanov State Academic Symphony Orchestra, Alexey Rubin accompanied pianists in the Finals of the XVII International Tchaikovsky Competition.
The maestro regularly performs with leading Russian orchestras and soloists, maintaining an active concert and touring schedule.
In 2014, he conducted a charity concert for children with cancer at the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic.
He has assisted Valery Gergiev, Yuri Bashmet, Mikhail Jurowsky, Daniele Gatti, and Charles Dutoit.
Mikhail Perevalov is the conductor of the Orchestra
Mikhail Perevalov was born in 1986 in Asbest, Sverdlovsk Region.
He graduated from the Urals Mussorgsky State Conservatoire having specialized in choral conducting (with Professor V.B. Zavadsky) and "opera-symphony conducting" (with Professor V.L. Kartashov).
During his studies, served as assistant to the principal conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Ural State Conservatoire conducted by A. Shaburov.
He participated in conducting master classes led by Professor Nicolas Pasquet from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music.
From 2008 to 2020 Mikhail had been an artist of Yekaterinburg Philharmonic Choir, participating in international festivals in France, Germany, Denmark, China, and Japan.
As a guest conductor, he collaborated with the Chamber Orchestra of the Union of Composers of the Sverdlovsk Region, the Vyatka Raevsky Symphony Orchestra, and the Chelyabinsk Glinka State Opera House.
Since 2020, he has been teaching "orchestral class" at the Department of Orchestral String, Wind, and Percussion Instruments at the Chelyabinsk State Institute of Culture, serving as artistic director and conductor of the chamber orchestra of the Chelyabinsk State Institute of Culture.
In 2020 he was appointed the conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra of the Chelyabinsk Region.
Under his leadership, the State Symphony Orchestra of the Chelyabinsk Region presents both symphonic programs and collaborative programs with the V. Michalchenko Chamber Choir, premieres of compositions by the Chelyabinsk branch of the Union of Composers. M. Perevalov leads a unique project of the Chelyabinsk State Philharmonic — the series of interactive concerts for children "Academy of Symphonic Music" (script by K. Rubinsky, directed by A. Tetuev), educational project "Fairy Tales with a Big Orchestra" featuring leading actors of theater, film, and television.
Adik Abdurakhmanov (January 16, 1962, Chelyabinsk — February 19, 2024, Chelyabinsk)
Adik was the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra of the Chelyabinsk Region from 2019 to 2024. Adik Abdurakhmanov was the Honored Artist of Russia, graduate of the St. Petersburg and Ural Conservatories, professor. His contribution was appreciated and awarded by the Chelyabinsk Regional Legislative Assembly Prize, the Administration of Chelyabinsk City "Golden Lyre," recognized with gratitude from the international charitable foundation V. Spivakov, the international charitable program "New Names," and the Union of Composers of Russia. In 2017, he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Chelyabinsk.
As a soloist and conductor, he toured in Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Latvia, and Lithuania. Adik Abdurakhmanov was the first to perform music pieces of contemporary composers, including those written specifically for the Classica chamber orchestra which he founded. He was the artistic director of the program "New Names," supporting gifted children, and the Young Classic chamber orchestra, aimed at the professional development of young musicians. He headed the Department of Orchestral Strings, Winds, and Percussion at the Chelyabinsk State Institute of Culture, professor. Among his students are laureates of all-Russian and international competitions; many of them work in leading orchestras in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Switzerland, the USA, and Israel.
