Ural Philharmonic Orchestra (in Russian 'Уральский академический филармонический оркестр, УАФО') is a professional symphony orchestra based in

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The Ural Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1936 by the Russian conductor Mark Paverman as the Orchestra of the Sverdlovsk Radio. The most prominent musicians of the Soviet Union – conductors, soloists and composers – worked with the Orchestra. However, due to the special status of the 'closed city' of Sverdlovsk it was 'hidden' from the rest of the world until 1991 when the city was 'opened', and the Orchestra's professional level quickly became known abroad.

Overview

Based in Yekaterinburg, a 1,5 million city on the border between Europe and Asia, the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra performs over 100 concerts and more than 70 programs per year, both at its domicile, the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Hall, and on its extensive international tours. Thanks to the Philharmonic’s innovative Digital Concert Hall capacities, the Orchestra’s home concerts are regularly broadcast live on video into the region's public libraries and cultural centres, where music lovers from the Sverdlovsk region can come together to share the experience. The orchestra uniting a hundred musicians and directed by

Dmitry Liss Dmitry Liss (born 1960) is a Russian Conductor (music), conductor. He is also the artistic director and chief conductor of the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra. Biography Born in 1960, Dmitry Liss is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory. Upon gradu ...

is famous for its flexibility and interpretations of classical and contemporary music. The Ural Philharmonic Orchestra is the main resident orchestra of all the musical festivals of the Sverdlovsk State Philharmonic. UPO has toured over 20 countries and performed at such venues as the

Pleyel Ignace Joseph Pleyel (; ; 18 June 1757 – 14 November 1831) was an Austrian-born French composer, music publisher and piano builder of the Classical period. Life Early years He was born in in Lower Austria, the son of a schoolmaster named Ma ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, Debussy Hall, Corum Opera Berlioz,

Palais des congrès de Paris The Palais des congrès de Paris is a concert venue, convention centre and shopping mall at the Porte Maillot in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, France. The venue was built by French architect Guillaume Gillet, and was inaugurated in 1974. Nearb ...

(France),

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

Essen Philharmonic Saalbau Essen is a concert venue in Essen, Germany, the home of the Essen Philharmonic. The original building was completed in 1902, and destroyed during World War II on 26 July 1943. It was rebuilt between 1949 and 1954 and completely renov ...

(Germany),

Konzerthaus, Vienna The Konzerthaus is a concert hall located in Vienna, Austria, which opened in 1913. It is situated in the third district just at the edge of the first district in Vienna. Since it was founded it has always tried to emphasise both traditional and ...

Brucknerhaus The Brucknerhaus () is a festival and congress centre in Linz, Austria named after the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner. The building was designed by Finnish architects Heikki and Kaija Siren. Its construction took place from 1969 to 1973. It op ...

Linz (Austria),

Royal Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb Architectural acoustics, acoustics place it among the ...

(the Netherlands), Auditorio de Murcia (Spain),

Beethovenhalle The Beethovenhalle () is a concert hall in Bonn. It is the third hall in that city to bear the name of Bonn-born composer Ludwig van Beethoven. History The first Beethovenhalle was a temporary structure built in 1845 during the inauguration of ...

(Germany),

Tokyo Bunka Kaikan The is a Japanese concert hall located in Ueno Park, Taitō, Tokyo. Designed by Japanese architect Kunio Maekawa, it was built in 1961 and renovated in 1998–99. Its larger hall seats 2303 people, and its small hall seats 649. It is operated ...

Tokyo International Forum The is a multi-purpose exhibition center in Tokyo, Japan. The complex is generally considered to be in the Yūrakuchō business district, being adjacent to Yūrakuchō Station, but it is administratively in the Marunouchi district. Tokyo Int ...

, Tokyo Metropolitan Theater (Japan), Culture and Congress Center (Switzerland),

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

(USA), Tonhalle and Victoria Hall (Switzerland),

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The ...

(Belgium), Grand Hall of the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

, Great Hall of the

St. Petersburg Philharmonic The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (russian: Симфонический оркестр Санкт-Петербургской филармонии, ''Symphonic Orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia'') is a Russian orchestra based ...

, Concert Hall and New Stage of the

Mariinsky Theater The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

(Russia), and others. The Ural Philharmonic Orchestra discography comprises over 30 CDs. Its Russian Light album (Sony Classical, 2018) with Olga Peretyatko (soprano) received the

OPUS Klassik ''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.). Opus or OPUS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...

Award and got nominated for the

International Classical Music Awards The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) are music awards first awarded 6 April 2011. ICMA replace the Cannes Classical Awards (later called MIDEM Classical Awards) formerly awarded at MIDEM. The jury consists of music critics of magazines ...

(ICMA). Ural Philharmonic Orchestra collaborated with outstanding Russian and foreign musicians, including conductors Dmitry Kitaenko,

Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (russian: Генна́дий Никола́евич Рожде́ственский; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. H ...

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', ''Polish Requiem'', ''A ...

Leif Segerstam Leif Selim Segerstam ( , ; born 2 March 1944) is a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist and pianist, especially known for writing 350 symphonies as of August 2022, along with other works in his extensive oeuvre. Segerstam has condu ...

Mikhail Pletnev Mikhail Vasilievich Pletnev (russian: Михаи́л Васи́льевич Плетнёв, ''Mikha'il Vas'ilevič Plet'nëv''; born 14 April 1957) is a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. Life and career Pletnev was born into a musical fa ...

Vladimir Fedoseev Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev (russian: Влади́мир Васи́льевич Федосе́ев; born 16 February 1995) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2015, 2017, and 2021. Career Fedoseev tied fo ...

Alexander Lazarev Alexander Nikolayevich Lazarev (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Ла́зарев; born 5 July 1945, Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian conductor. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, and later at the Moscow Conse ...

Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев, ; os, Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери, Gergity Abisaly fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company d ...

Klaus Tennstedt Klaus Hermann Wilhelm Tennstedt (; June 6, 1926 – January 11, 1998) was a German conductor from Merseburg. Known for his interpretation of the Austro-German repertoire, especially his sympathetic approaches towards Gustav Mahler, Tennsted ...

Jean-Claude Casadesus Jean-Claude Probst (born 7 December 1935), known professional as Jean-Claude Casadesus, is a French conductor. Biography Casadesus was born in Paris on 7 December 1935, the son of actress Gisèle Casadesus and her husband Lucien Pascal. He beg ...

, Inoue Michiyoshi,

Hans Jorg Albrecht Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

Fabio Mastrangelo Fabio is a given name descended from Latin '' Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). Its English equivalent is Fabian. The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented ...

Eliahu Inbal Eliahu Inbal (born 16 February 1936, Jerusalem) is an Israeli conductor. Inbal studied violin at the Israeli Academy of Music and took composition lessons with Paul Ben-Haim. Upon hearing him there, Leonard Bernstein endorsed a scholarship for ...

, Andrey Boreiko, Guintaras Rinkevisius, Dimitris Botinis and soloists

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was wel ...

Dmitri Hvorostovsky Dmitri Aleksandrovich Hvorostovsky (russian: Дми́трий Алекса́ндрович Хворосто́вский, ; 16 October 1962 – 22 November 2017) was a Russian operatic baritone. Early life and education Hvorostovsky was born i ...

, Nikolai Petrov,

Yuri Bashmet Yuri Abramovich Bashmet (russian: link=no, Юрий Абрамович Башмет; born 24 January 1953) is a Russian conductor, violinist, and violist. Biography Yuri Bashmet was born on 24 January 1953 in Rostov-on-Don in the family of Ab ...

Viktor Tretyakov Viktor Viktorovich Tretiakov (russian: Ви́ктор Ви́кторович Третьяко́в; born 17 October 1946) is a Russian violinist and conductor. Other spellings of his name are Victor, Tretyakov and Tretjakov. Biography The son of a ...

Elisso Virsaladze Eliso Virsaladze ( ka, ელისო ვირსალაძე; born September 14, 1942) is a Georgian pianist. Biography She was born in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR. Her father Constantine Virsaladze was a prominent doctor and scientist, so was ...

Natalia Gutman Natalia Grigoryevna Gutman (russian: Наталья Григорьевна Гутман) (born 14 November 1942 in Kazan), PAU, is a Russian cellist. She began to study cello at the Moscow Music School with R. Sapozhnikov. She was later admitted t ...

Liana Isakadze Liana Isakadze ( ka, ლიანა ისაკაძე, russian: Лиана Александровна Исакадзе, german: Liana Isakadse) (born August 2, 1946) is a Georgian violinist. Life Born in Tbilisi, the capital of then-Sovie ...

, Alexander Knyazev, Boris Andrianov, Peter Donohoe,

Olga Borodina Olga Vladimirovna Borodina (born 29 July 1963, in Leningrad)Borodina, Ol ...

, Alena Baeva,

Benjamin Grosvenor Benjamin Grosvenor (born 8 July 1992) is a British classical pianist. Education Grosvenor was born and brought up in Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend-on-Sea, Essex. He is the youngest of five brothers. His father is an English and Drama teacher, an ...

, Victor Julien-Laferrière,

Henri Demarquette Henri Demarquette (born 1970) is a French contemporary classical cellist. Life ''"An enthusiastic musician with a multi-faceted personality, Henri Demarquette plays the cello as if setting a deep forest ablaze; not a single stroke of his bow le ...

Olga Peretyatko Olga Alexandrovna Peretyatko (russian: Ольга Александровна Перетятько, links=no; born 21 May 1980) is a Russian operatic soprano. She has been known for lyric and coloratura soprano roles, most notably in operas by Ros ...

Behzod Abduraimov Behzod Abduraimov (born 11 September 1990) is an Uzbek pianist. A former student of Van Cliburn International Piano Competition gold medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch at Park University's International Center for Music (ICM), he was described by ''The ...

, Boris Berezovsky,

Vadim Repin Vadim Viktorovich Repin (russian: Вадим Викторович Репин, ; born 31 August 1971) is a Russian and Belgian violinist who lives in Vienna.

Nikolai Lugansky Nikolai Lvovich Lugansky (russian: Никола́й Льво́вич Луга́нский; born 26 April 1972) is a Russian pianist. Early life and education Nikolai Lugansky was born on 26 April 1972 in Moscow, Russia, to research scientist p ...

Denis Matsuev Denis Leonidovich Matsuev ( rus, Дени́с Леони́дович Мацу́ев /ma'tsujef/; born June 11, 1975) is a Russian classical pianist and occasional jazz performer. Biography Born in Irkutsk, Soviet Union, Matsuev is the only child o ...

, Frederic Kempf, Sergey Krylov,

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed inst ...

Dmitry Masleev Dmitry Masleev (born May 4, 1988) is a Russian pianist. Early life and education Masleev was born on May 4, 1988, in Ulan-Ude, a Siberian city between Lake Baikal and the Mongolian border. He was educated at the Moscow Conservatory in the class ...

Vadym Kholodenko Vadym Kholodenko (born 1986, in Kyiv) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian pianist, and winner of the gold medal at the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, who captured the attention of jury, audience, and critics alike for "mesmerizing ...

, and other distinguished artists. The Ural Philharmonic Orchestra has a rich experience in performing contemporary music. The Orchestra regularly commissions works from acclaimed contemporary composers. In different years UPO collaborated with

Toshio Hosokawa is a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music. He studied in Germany but returned to Japan, finding a personal style inspired by classical Japanese music and culture. He has composed operas, the oratorio ''Voiceless Voice in Hiroshima' ...

Ivan Fedele Ivan Fedele (born 6 May 1953 in Lecce) is an Italian composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory. Fedele's compositions are published by Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, and many of his works are recorded on Stradivarius Records. Selected works ;S ...

Alexander Tchaikovsky Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

Leonid Desyatnikov Leonid Arkadievich Desyatnikov (russian: Леони́д Арка́дьевич Деся́тников, born: 16 October 1955, Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR) is a Russian composer who first made a reputation with a number of film scores, then achieving gr ...

René Koering René Koering (born 27 May 1940) is a French composer, film producer and theater director. He is particularly known for his involvement in the creation of the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier in 1985. Life Born in Andlau (Bas-Rhin), he pa ...

, Eun-Hwa Cho,

Anton Batagov Anton Batagov (born October 10, 1965) is a Russian pianist and post-minimalist composer. "One of the most significant and unusual figures of Russian contemporary music", according to 'Newsweek's Russian edition in 1997, Batagov is an influential ...

, and Olga Viktorova. The orchestra’s repertoire has included works by Yury Falik,

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (russian: Софи́я Асгáтовна Губaйду́лина, link=no , tt-Cyrl, София Әсгать кызы Гобәйдуллина; born 24 October 1931) is a Soviet-Russian composer and an established ...

Valentin Silvestrov Valentyn Vasylyovych Sylvestrov ( uk, Валенти́н Васи́льович Сильве́стров; born 30 September 1937) is a Ukrainian composer and pianist, who plays and writes contemporary classical music. Biography Valentyn Vasylyo ...

Avet Terteryan Alfred Roubenovich "Avet" Terterian (also Terteryan) ( hy, Ալֆրեդ "Ավետ" Տերտերյան, July 29, 1929 – December 11, 1994) was an Armenian composer, awarded the Konrad Adenauer Prize. Terterian composed eight (completed) sympho ...

, Arvo Pyart,

Galina Ustvolskaya Galina Ivanovna Ustvolskaya (russian: Гали́на Ива́новна Уство́льская , 17 June 1919 – 22 December 2006), was a Russian composer of classical music. Early years Born in Petrograd, Ustvolskaya studied from 1937 to 1 ...

Nikolay Myaskovsky Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky or Miaskovsky or Miaskowsky (russian: Никола́й Я́ковлевич Мяско́вский; pl, Mikołaj Miąskowski, syn Jakóbowy; 20 April 18818 August 1950), was a Russian and USSR, Soviet composer. He ...

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

Kaija Saariaho Kaija Anneli Saariaho (; ; born 14 October 1952) is a Finnish composer based in Paris, France. During the course of her career, Saariaho has received commissions from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the Ensemble Inter ...

Gia Kancheli Gia Kancheli ( ka, გია ყანჩელი; 10 August 1935 – 2 October 2019) was a Georgian composer. He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia but resided in Belgium. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kancheli lived first in ...

, Rodion Schedrin,

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (russian: Альфре́д Га́рриевич Шни́тке, link=no, Alfred Garriyevich Shnitke; 24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer of Jewish-German descent. Among the most performed and re ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

Gabriel Prokofiev Gabriel Prokofiev (born 6 January 1975) is a Russian-British composer, producer, DJ, and Artistic Director of the Nonclassical record label and nightclub. Early life Gabriel Prokofiev was born on 6 January 1975 to an English mother and a Russi ...

. The UPO’s contemporary music recordings include those of

Nikolai Myaskovsky Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky or Miaskovsky or Miaskowsky (russian: Никола́й Я́ковлевич Мяско́вский; pl, Mikołaj Miąskowski, syn Jakóbowy; 20 April 18818 August 1950), was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is som ...

symphonies and

’s concertos (2019/2020 release). The Orchestra participated in numerous international festivals such as the

Music Biennale Zagreb Music Biennale Zagreb ( hr, Muzički biennale Zagreb, MBZ) is an international festival of contemporary music in Zagreb, Croatia, organized by the Croatian Composers' Society. The Biennale, founded by Milko Kelemen and held every spring of the od ...

, the

Beethovenfest The Beethovenfest (Beethoven Festival) is a festival of classical music in Bonn, Germany, dedicated mostly to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven who was born there. It dates back to 1845, when the composer's 75th anniversary of birth was celebrat ...

Bonn,

Ludwigsburg Festival The Ludwigsburg Festival (''Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele'', also ''Internationale Festspiele Baden-Württemberg'') is a culture festival with programs in music, dance, theatre and literature. The festival is held in Ludwigsburg annually betwee ...

, Bodensee Festival (Germany), the Europalia Russia Festival in Belgium and repeatedly in the Music Festival Crescendo in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Kaliningrad, the

Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron The Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron is an international piano festival, founded in 1980 by Paul Onoratini (1920–2010), then mayor of La Roque-d'Anthéron and , then an intern at the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs, seeking to creat ...

international piano competition, and

La Folle Journée La Folle Journée is a French annual classical music festival held in Nantes. It is the largest classical music festival in France. The festival's name refers to the Pierre Beaumarchais play ''The Marriage of Figaro'', whose alternative title i ...

in France, Spain and Japan. The Russian edition of La Folle Journee takes place in Sverdlovsk Philharmonic in Yekaterinburg since 2015. Maestro

invited the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra to perform at the opening of the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

’s new concert hall in 2007, under his direction. Since then, the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra presents its own season concert series at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Principal conductors

(1995–present)

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Russian symphony orchestras Musical groups established in 1936 {{Orchestra-stub