Mikhail Agrest is a Russian conductor, who has been employed since 2001 by the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Biography

Mikhail Agrest was born in Saint Petersburg, the son of professional musicians. He emigrated in 1989 to the United States with his family to

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, where his parents played in the

Charleston Symphony Orchestra The Charleston Symphony Orchestra aka CSO, is an American orchestra based in Charleston, South Carolina, and performs Masterworks and Pops series, Youth Orchestra concerts and more, at the Gaillard Center and dozens of other venues across the Low ...

, and continued his violin studies, receiving a degree in violin performance from the

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

where he studied with

Josef Gingold Josef Gingold (; January 11, 1995) was a Russian and American classical violinist and teacher who lived most of his life in the United States. At the time of his death he was considered one of the most influential violin masters in the United St ...

. He returned to Saint Petersburg to study

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

under Ilya Musin and

Mariss Jansons Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian Conducting, conductor, best known for his interpretations of Gustav Mahler, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Strauss, and Russian composers such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, ...

at the Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory. In the summers of 2000 and 2001 he studied with

David Zinman David Zinman (born July 9, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired American conductor and violinist. Education After violin studies at Oberlin Conservatory, Zinman studied theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, earning his M.A. ...

and

Jorma Panula Jorma Juhani Panula (born 10 August 1930) is a Finnish conductor, composer, and teacher of conducting. He has mentored many Finnish conductors, such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mikko Franck, Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä, Klaus ...

at the American Academy of Conducting of the

Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, th ...

. Back in Saint Petersburg in 2001 Mikhail joined the

. As an international guest conductor, he made his debut at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

in New York in July 2003 with the

Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra The Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra or just the Mariinsky Orchestra (formerly known as the Kirov Orchestra) is located in the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. The orchestra was founded in 1783 during the reign of Catherine the Great, it ...

with a production of

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

’s opera ''

The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya ''The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya'' ( rus, Сказание о невидимом граде Китеже и деве Февронии, italic=yes, Skazániye o nevídimom gráde Kítezhe i déve Fevrónii ) is ...

''. In 2010 he returned to Charleston to conduct the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in a concert. In July 2019 Agrest became the

principal conductor Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duties o ...

of the

Stuttgart Ballet Stuttgart Ballet is a leading German ballet company. Dating back to 1609, then the court ballet of the dukes of Württemberg, the modern company was founded by John Cranko and is known for full-length narrative ballets. The company received the ...

. In late 2021 he was fired, apparently after a disagreement with Tamas Detrich. The administration of the Ballet refused to give reasons or details to the media.Gisela Sonnenburg
Verrohung im vornehmen Opernbetrieb

Telepolis ''Telepolis'' is a German Internet magazine, published by the Heinz Heise Verlag since the beginning of 1996. It was founded by journalists Armin Medosch and Florian Rötzer and deals with privacy, science, culture, internet-related and g ...

, 29 Dezember 2021; Rupert Koppold
Totschweiger und Lobmaschinen
Kontext, 8 Dezember 2021; Gisela Sonnenburg
Reid Anderson feuert Stardirigenten
''Ballett-Journal'', 25 November 2021; Gisela Sonnenburg

junge Welt ''Junge Welt'' (English: ''Young World'', stylized in its logo as ''junge Welt'') is a German daily newspaper, published in Berlin. The jW describes itself as a left-wing and Marxist newspaper. German authorities categorize it as a far-left medi ...

, 23 Dezember 2021; Andrea Kachelrieß

Stuttgarter Nachrichten ''Stuttgarter Nachrichten'' (''Stuttgart News'') is a newspaper that is published in Stuttgart-Möhringen, Germany. It sells together with the ''Stuttgarter Zeitung The () is a German language, German-language daily newspaper (except Su ...

, 9 Dezember 2021.

Sources and external links

Mariinsky website: AgrestSeattleSymphony.org: Agrest

Operabase: AgrestCharleston City Paper 16 March 2010 - Agrest Conducts SOBolshoiRussia.com AgrestKonserthuset.se: Afrest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agrest, Mikhail Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Saint Petersburg 21st-century Russian conductors (music) Russian male conductors (music) 21st-century Russian male musicians