Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya

LIDIYA YANKOVSKAYA (b.1986) is a conductor and a fiercely committed advocate for Slavic masterpieces and contemporary works on the leading edge of classical music. She has conducted more than 40 world premieres, including 17 operas, and her strength as a visionary collaborator has guided new perspectives on staged and symphonic repertoire from Carmen and Queen of Spades to Price and Prokofiev. Her transformative tenure as Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater earned consistent recognition from the Chicago Tribune, which named her Chicagoan of the Year and credited her with “raising the profile of COT immensely, her interpretations bracing and repertoire head-spinningly varied.”

Yankovskaya has recently conducted Eugene Onegin at Staatsoper Hamburg, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs and Bluebeard’s Castle at English National Opera, Rusalka at Santa Fe Opera, Carmen at Houston Grand Opera, Taking Up Serpents at Washington National Opera, and Don Giovanni at Seattle Opera. On the concert stage, high-profile engagements include appearances with the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics; concerts with Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and National Symphony Orchestras; and Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields at Carnegie Hall.

In her seven seasons as Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater, Yankovskaya spearheaded the commissioning of 11 new operas, advancing the work of six female composers and seven creators of color. She led the Chicago premieres of Heggie’s Moby-Dick and Talbot’s Everest, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and Szymanowski’s King Roger, before concluding her tenure with a landmark new Francesca Zambello production of Shostakovich’s The Nose. Under her leadership, COT established the Vanguard Initiative, an immersive two-year residency for emerging opera composers that culminates with the development of a full-length opera. She continues this vital work as Artistic Director of the Vanguard Initiative, enriching the repertory with new voices and experiences that resonate with today’s audiences.

Yankovskaya was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and grew up immersed in music as a pianist, violinist, and singer. When she immigrated to the United States as a refugee at age nine, her devotion to music remained a constant in her life. Those experiences inspired her to found the Refugee Orchestra Project, which proclaims the societal relevance of refugees through music. ROP has brought that message to hundreds of thousands of listeners around the world, with performances in London, Boston, Washington, D.C., and the United Nations. This important work has been featured on CNN, The Today Show, NowThis, Newsweek, and BBC World Newsday, bringing classical music and artists’ compelling stories to audiences well beyond the concert hall and opera house.

Yankovskaya holds a B.A. in Music and Philosophy from Vassar College, with a focus on piano, voice, and conducting, and earned an M.M. in Conducting from Boston University.

— https://lidiyayankovskaya.com/

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