Few musicians can claim to have conducted more than 40 world premieres by the age of 38. Step forward Lidiya Yankovskaya, the outgoing music director of Chicago Opera Theater and named Chicagoan of the Year for 2020. It seems startling to relinquish such a post, but Yankovskaya feels ready for the challenges ahead.
Read MoreEnglish National Opera needed a new conductor to jump into a production of a tricky and disturbing 20th-century masterpiece. Luckily there was an obvious candidate: why not get the conductor who had led another challenging 20th-century masterpiece at ENO — and had a triumph? So the Russian-American conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, the conductor of last year’s acclaimed ENO production of Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, stepped in.
Read MoreThe number of female conductors on the world’s orchestral podiums might be rising, but there is still some distance to cover, writes Jessica Duchen. Fast-rising star Lidiya Yankovskaya doesn’t mince her words about the challenges she has faced. “There’s a misconception that we’ve changed things more than we have. That’s because we started in a place that was so bad.”
Read MoreAs music director of the Chicago Opera Theater for the past seven years, Lidiya Yankovskaya has brought well-earned attention to the company with her commitment to presenting compelling interpretations of a varied repertoire. Now she has said she will step down at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, with her final production as The Nose, Shostakovich's absurdist political satire.
Read MoreYankovskaya has raised the profile of COT immensely, her interpretations bracing and repertoire head-spinningly varied: She led 25 new-to-Chicago works, 11 of which were world premieres. She’s also fashioned COT as a primo stop for artists growing their careers by formalizing COT’s Young Artist Program and founding its Vanguard Initiative, which pairs first-time opera composers with accomplished librettists to trial-run a new work.
Read MoreOn December 8 and 10, the Chicago premiere of the opera “The Nose” by D. Shostakovich will take place at the Chicago Opera Theater. The conductor is the musical director of the theater Lydia Yankovskaya. About the future performance, reasons for leaving COT and immediate plans - in an exclusive interview with the conductor.
Read MoreThe central event of the fiftieth anniversary season of the Chicago Opera Theater is the Chicago premiere of D. Shostakovich’s opera “The Nose”. The conductor is the musical director of the theater Lydia Yankovskaya.
Read MoreSymphony San Jose opens its season by exploring this theme with a program of music from various stories and legends. Under the baton of the dynamic Chicago conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, the orchestra casts a spotlight on music with a mythic undercurrent.
Read MoreConductor Lidiya Yankovskaya believes in exploring music from a full spectrum — beloved classics of the repertoire, as well as ink-still-wet new works. With a strong commitment to innovation, Yankovskaya has become one of classical music’s essential artists.
Read More“The wonderful thing about Rusalka, like many great operas, is that the drama and the music are so woven together. So for me, the most important thing is finding that overall arc of the storytelling, and finding how each individual moment fits into the arc.”
Read MoreConductor Lidiya Yankovskaya tells us why she thinks Anton Rubinstein deserves to be a more celebrated figure.
Read MoreMusic Director Lidiya Yankovskaya shares her favorite local spots in Chicago with Michigan Avenue Magazine writer J.P. Anderson.
Read More“Mike Goldberg talks with Lidiya on ‘An Hour with the Richmond Symphony,’ discussing her musical background, the impact of Russian and American cultures on her career, and the repertoire for this weekend's program featuring Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, as well as works by American composers John Adams, Florence Price and James Lee III.”
Read More“‘I can’t think of many companies that would do this work. To stage the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs is a big risk and a really out of the box idea. Most organisations would not have the confidence, even if they believed in it.’ The 37-year-old conductor debuts tonight at the English National Opera. She reflects on grief, balancing art with emotion and the importance of companies like the ENO.’”
Read More“My job is to bring people together to inspire them and help guide a unified interpretation. I think it would be healthy if all leadership were approached more like that, and less from a standpoint of beating people into submission, forcing something, or proving something. Great music-making isn’t about that and never can be.”
Read More“It's a beautiful opportunity,” says Lidiya Yankovskaya. “A month of rehearsal, where the director, the singer and I get to think every day about every nuance of that emotional dramatic arc over the course of the piece. That is a luxury.” Speaking over Zoom during a rare day off between concerts in Detroit and Knoxville, the Russian-American conductor is palpably excited about her upcoming appearances at English National Opera.
Read MoreBecause her work is consistently excellent, her tenure has revitalized the company. Yankovskaya is in high demand everywhere… Her mastery of symphonic repertoire is as formidable as her operatic conducting.
Read More“Short phrases are much easier and clearer to conduct; in pieces like this, large gestures across time are key. It’s all one big phrase, and it relies on the conductor to carry that phrasing. When you have that many major chords in a row, how each one is voiced becomes crucial.”
Read More"Refugees often don't talk about refugee status; they don't want it to define them," says Lidiya Yankovskaya, founder and conductor of the Refugee Orchestra Project, an ensemble of top-level musicians from around the globe. "They want to define their own lives for who they are."
Read MoreMonday marks World Refugee Day, something that has added significance this year in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine. NBC’s Anne Thompson reports on the inspiring story of The Refugee Orchestra Project aiming to help them and others.
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