The young Russian conductor Alexander Vedernikov was born and educated in Moscow, and quickly achieved recognition as an operatic conductor. In 1998 he joined Moscow’s Stanislavsky Music Theatre, where he conducted Mozart’s La finta giardiniera and Le nozze di Figaro, Verdi’s La traviata, Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Queen of Spades. Abroad he has appeared with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra as well as with various western orchestras. His engagements included concerts throughout Europe with major orchestras and he has frequently performed as a guest conductor in Italy, in opera houses including La Scala, Milan, the Teatro Reggio in Turin, La Fenice in Venice, and the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome. In the 1995-96 season, Alexander Vedernikov participated in the Japanese tour of La Scala, and in the 1996-97 season made his Covent Garden début, and in the 1997 tour of the Royal Opera House conducted Prokofiev’s Cinderella at the Metropolitan Opera. He has appeared in major concert halls and with many world famous soloists. Since 2001 he has served as Musical Director and Principal Conductor at the Bolshoy