Ilan Volkov (; born September 8, 1976,

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

) is an Israeli

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

l conductor, who has been chief conductor and guest conductor of a number of orchestras.

Biography

Volkov's father, Alexander Volkov, was a concert pianist. He studied with the conductor Mendi Rodan at the Rubin Academy in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, before continuing at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. At age 19, he was named young conductor in association to the Northern Sinfonia. He later served as conductor of Young Sinfonia, the youth orchestra of the Northern Sinfonia. In 1997, he became principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. In 1999,

Seiji Ozawa was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After cond ...

named Volkov the assistant conductor with the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...

. Volkov first conducted the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) in 1998. He became chief conductor of the BBC SSO in January 2003, the youngest chief conductor appointed to a BBC orchestra at the time. He was named the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

Young Musician of the Year in 2004, in recognition of his work with the BBC SSO. In December 2008, the BBC SSO announced the appointment of Volkov as its principal guest conductor, to commence after the conclusion of his tenure as chief conductor in September 2009. In January 2011, the

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa (concert hall), Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution u ...

named Volkov as its chief conductor and music director. Volkov concluded his tenure in August 2014, following the orchestra's debut at

The Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

. Volkov first guest-conducted the

Brussels Philharmonic The Brussels Philharmonic is a Belgian orchestra located in Brussels. Formerly known as the Groot Symfonie-Orkest, BRT Philharmonic Orchestra, and later as the Flemish Radio Orchestra, the orchestra has been linked to the Flemish public broadc ...

in March 2021. In February 2022, the orchestra announced his appointment as principal guest conductor, for the 2022–2023 season. Volkov has made a specialty of recording long-unperformed or never before recorded works by neglected artists. He has spoken of his affinity with music written between 1909 and the 20s. He has made several recordings for the Hyperion label. Volkov and his partner Maya Dunietz have a daughter, Nadia, born in August 2007 in Israel.Tim Cornwell, "Top conductor to leave Scottish Symphony Orchestra" ''The Scotsman'', 2007-09-18. In

, Volkov and the jazz musician Assif Tsahar have established the performing venue Levontine 7.

References

External links

Maestro Arts agency page on Ilan Volkov

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra website, page on affiliated conductos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volkov, Ilan Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Musicians from Tel Aviv Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent 1976 births Living people Jewish classical musicians 21st-century Israeli conductors (music) Chief conductors of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra