The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a

school of music A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.

History

The conservatory was founded in 1862 by the Russian Music Society and

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the S ...

, a Russian

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

and composer. On his resignation in 1867, he was succeeded by Nikolai Zaremba.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

was appointed as a professor in 1871, and the conservatory has borne his name since 1944. In 1887, Rubinstein returned to the conservatory with the goal of improving overall standards. He revised the curriculum, expelled inferior students, fired and demoted many professors, and made entrance and examination requirements more stringent. In 1891, he resigned again over the Imperial demand of racial quotas. The current building was erected in the 1890s on the site of the old Bolshoi Theatre of Saint Petersburg, and it still preserves its grand staircase and landing. As the city changed its name in the 20th century, the conservatory was renamed Petrograd Conservatory (Петроградская консерватория) and Leningrad Conservatory (Ленинградская консерватория). The school alumni have included such notable composers as

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic music, Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer Music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, whose music would make a lasting impressi ...

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

Artur Kapp Artur Kapp (28 February 1878 – 14 January 1952) was an Estonian composer. Born in Suure-Jaani, Estonia, then part of the Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire, he was the son of Joosep Kapp, who was also a classically trained musician. Ka ...

, and

Rudolf Tobias Rudolf Tobias ( – 29 October 1918) was the first Estonian professional composer, as well as a professional organist. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. His compositions include among others piano works, string quartets and an or ...

and Dmitri Shostakovich, who taught at the conservatory during the 1960s. Amongst his pupils were

German Okunev German Grigoryevich Okunev ( rus, Ге́рман Григо́рьевич О́кунев; 12 June 1931, in Leningrad – 12 June 1973, in Leningrad) was a Soviet Russian composer, pianist and teacher. Life Okunev's father was an engineer; his mo ...

and

Boris Tishchenko Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko ( Russian Бори́с Ива́нович Ти́щенко; 23 March 1939 – 9 December 2010) was a Russian and Soviet composer and pianist. Life Tishchenko was born in Leningrad. He studied at the Leningrad Mu ...

. Composer

taught at the conservatory for almost forty years, and his bronze monument is located outside the building in Theatre Square. The youngest musician ever admitted to the conservatory was four-year-old violinist

Clara Rockmore Clara Reisenberg Rockmore (9 March 1911 – 10 May 1998) was a Lithuanian classical violin prodigy and a virtuoso performer of the theremin, an electronic musical instrument. She was the sister of pianist Nadia Reisenberg. Life and career Earl ...

, who later became one of the world's foremost

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

players.

Directors and rectors

(1862–1867 and 1887–1891) * Nikolai Zaremba (1867–1871) *

Mikhail Azanchevsky Mikhail Pavlovich (von) Azanchevsky (russian: Михаи́л Па́влович (фон) Азанче́вский), – ) was a Russian composer and music teacher. He was the director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1871-1876. Not long befo ...

(1871–1876) *

Karl Davydov Karl Yulievich Davydov (russian: Карл Юльевич Давидов; ) was a Russian cellist of great renown during his time, and described by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as the "czar of cellists". He was also a composer, mainly for the cello. H ...

(1876–1887) *

Julius Johansen Julius Johansen (born 13 September 1999) is a Danish professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He rode in the men's team pursuit event at the 2017 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and won gold at the 2017 UCI Roa ...

(1891–1897) * Auguste Bernhard (1897–1905) *

Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov; ger, Glasunow (, 10 August 1865 – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 ...

(1905–1928) (formally 1930) – rector * A. Mashirov (1930–1933) * Veniamin Buchstein (1935–1936) * Boris Zagursky (1936–1939) – rector *

Pavel Serebryakov Pavel Alexeyevich Serebryakov (February 28, 1909 in Tsaritsyn – August 17, 1977 in Leningrad) was a Soviet pianist. Serebryakov began touring the USSR after ranking 2nd at the I National Competition (1933). A professor at the Leningrad Conser ...

(1939–1952, 1962–1977) * Yuri Briushkov (1952–1962) * Yuri Bolshiyanov (1977–1979) *

Vladislav Chernushenko Vladislav Chernushenko (born January 14, 1936) is a Soviet/Russian conductor, People's Artist of the USSR and State Prize laureate. He was educated at the Choir School of the State Cappella where his teacher was Pallady Bogdanov and later moved t ...

(1979–2002) *

Sergei Roldugin Sergei Pavlovich Roldugin (Russian: Сергей Павлович Ролдугин, born September 28, 1951 Sakhalin) is a Russian cellist and businessman, based in St Petersburg. He is a close friend of Vladimir Putin. He has been implicated ...

(2002–2004) * Alexander Chaikovsky (2004–2008) *

Sergei Stadler Sergei Stadler (Russian: Сергей Стадлер) is a Russian violinist and conductor. He is currently Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Saint Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. Biography Laureate of the international music compet ...

(2008–2011) * Mikhail Gantvarg (2011–2015) * Aleksey Vasilyev (since 2015)

Notable faculty

Boris Abalyan Boris Abalyan (born October 28, 1947) is a Russian choir conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie ro ...

(conducting) *

Leopold Auer Leopold von Auer ( hu, Auer Lipót; June 7, 1845July 15, 1930) was a Hungarian violinist, academic, conductor, composer, and instructor. Many of his students went on to become prominent concert performers and teachers. Early life and career Au ...

(

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

) *

Vladimir Bakaleinikov Vladimir Romanovich Bakaleinikov, also Bakaleynikov and Bakaleinikoff (russian: Владимир Романович Бакалейников; 3 October 1885 in Moscow – 5 November 1953 in Pittsburgh) was a Russian-American violist, music educato ...

(

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

) * Louis Brassin (

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

) * Vitaly Bujanovsky (French Horn) * Georgiy Ginovker (

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

) * Edouard Grikurov ( conducting) *

Artur Lemba Artur Lemba (24 September 1885, Tallinn – 21 November 1963, Tallinn) was an Estonian composer and piano teacher, and one of the most important figures in Estonian classical music. Artur and his older brother Theodor (1876-1962) were the first ...

(piano) *

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky, pl, Teodor Leszetycki; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915 was an Austrian- Polish pianist, professor, and composer born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land ...

(piano) *

Nikolai Malko Nicolai Andreyevich Malko (russian: Никола́й Андре́евич Малько́, ua, Микола Андрійович Малько; 4 May 188323 June 1961) was a Russian-born American symphonic conductor. Biography Malko was born in ...

(conducting) * Ilya Musin (conducting) * Leonid Nikolayev (piano) *

Cesare Pugni Cesare Pugni (; russian: Цезарь Пуни, Cezar' Puni; 31 May 1802 in Genoa – ) was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orche ...

(violin, counterpoint,

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature * Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

) * Alexander Radvilovich (composition) *

(

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", or ...

) *

(piano, the history of piano literature) * Karl Bogdànovich Schuberth (cello) * Dmitri Shostakovich (composition) *

Sergei Slonimsky Sergei Mikhailovich Slonimsky (russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Слони́мский; 12 August 1932 – 9 February 2020) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist and musicologist. Biography He was the son of the Soviet wri ...

(composition) *

Vladimir Sofronitsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Sofronitsky (or Sofronitzky; russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Софрони́цкий, ''Vladimir Sofronitskij''; – August 29, 1961) was a Soviet-Russian classical pianist, best known as an interpr ...

– piano *

Nikolai Tcherepnin Nikolai Nikolayevich Tcherepnin (Russian: Николай Николаевич Черепнин; – 26 June 1945) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in Saint Petersburg and studied under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at t ...

(conducting) *

(composition) * Aleksandr Verzhbilovich (

) * Zino Vinnikov (

) *

Jāzeps Vītols Jāzeps Vītols (german: Joseph Wihtol; 26 July 1863 – 24 April 1948) was a Latvian composer, pedagogue and music critic. He is considered one of the fathers of Latvian classical music. Biography Vītols, born in Valmiera the son of a sc ...

(composition) * Hieronymus Weickmann (viola) *

Henryk Wieniawski Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer and pedagogue who is regarded amongst the greatest violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew Adam Tadeusz Wieniawski were al ...

(violin) * Alexander Winkler (piano) *

Anna Yesipova Anna Yesipova (born ''Anna Nikolayevna Yesipova'' '' russian: Анна Николаевна Есипова">/nowiki>russian: Анна Николаевна Есипова', — ) was a prominent Russian pianist. Her name is cited variously as ' ...

(piano) * Nikolai Zaremba (composition, harmony) * Anatoly Zatin (composition, orchestration, chamber music) * Leah Zelikhman (piano)

Notable graduates

Anton Arensky Anton Stepanovich Arensky (russian: Анто́н Степа́нович Аре́нский; – ) was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music. Biography Arensky was born into an affluent, music-loving ...

- composer *

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

– choreographer * Leonid Balay - composer * Alexander Barantschik - violin * Semyon Barmotin - pianist, composer, teacher * Richard Burgin – violinist, conductor * Semyon Bychkov - conductor * Joseph Cherniavsky - cellist, conductor *

Peter Chernobrivets Peter Anatolievich Chernobrivets ( rus, Пётр Анато́льевич Чернобри́вец, born on 24 August 1965 in Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrogra ...

– composer, musicologist *

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 ...

– composer *

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

– impresario * Sandra Drouker - pianist *

Heino Eller Heino Eller (7 March 1887 – 16 June 1970) was an Estonian composer and pedagogue, known as the founder of contemporary Estonian symphonic music. Life Eller was born in Tartu, where he took private lessons in violin and music theory, played i ...

– composer *

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 di ...

– conductor *

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-born American violinist. Born in Vilnius, he moved while still a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He was a virtuoso since childhood. Fritz ...

– violinist *

Aida Huseynova Aida Huseynova ( – 20 June 2022) was a musicologist, pianist, and ethnomusicologist from Azerbaijan. She spent the last decade and a half of her career teaching in the Music in General Studies program at Indiana University--Bloomington and se ...

– musicologist and ethnomusicologist *

Alexander Ilyinsky Alexander Alexandrovich Ilyinsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Ильи́нский; 23 February 1920) was a Russian music teacher and composer, best known for the ''Lullaby (Berceuse)'', Op. 13, No. 7, from his orch ...

– music teacher and composer *

Mariss Jansons Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian conductor best known for his interpretations of Mahler, Strauss and Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich. During his lifetime he was ...

– conductor * Alfrēds Kalniņš – composer, organist *

– composer * Leokadiya Kashperova - pianist, composer *

Yuri Khanon Yuri Khanon is a pen name of ''Yuri Feliksovich Soloviev-Savoyarov'' (russian: Юрий Феликсович Соловьёв-Савояров),

– composer, writer, laureate of the

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mo ...

. *

Eduard Khil Eduard Anatolyevich Khil ( rus, Эдуа́рд Анато́льевич Хиль, , ɨdʊˈart ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈxʲilʲ; 4 September 1934 – 4 June 2012), often anglicized as Edward Hill, was a Soviet-Russian baritone singer. Khil be ...

– singer * Vladimir Khomyakov – pianist * Nadine Koutcher – opera singer *

Gustav Kross Gustav Kross () was a Russian pianist and teacher. He is primarily remembered for being the soloist of the first, negatively-received Russian performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. Biography Gustav Gustavovich Kross was born in Saint ...

- pianist * Miroslav Kultyshev - pianist * Eugene Levinson - Double bassist *

Anatoly Lyadov Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (russian: Анато́лий Константи́нович Ля́дов; ) was a Russian composer, teacher, and conductor. Biography Lyadov was born in 1855 in St. Petersburg, into a family of eminent Russian ...

– composer, teacher, conductor * Sasha Mäkilä – Finnish conductor *

Witold Maliszewski Witold Maliszewski (russian: Витольд Осипович Малишевский, uk, Вітольд Йосифович Малішевський; 20 July 1873 – 18 July 1939) was a Polish composer, founder of Odessa Conservatory, and a profe ...

– composer *

Nathan Milstein Nathan Mironovich Milstein ( – December 21, 1992) was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist. Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and ...

– violinist * Nevsky String Quartet *

Tomomi Nishimoto Tomomi Nishimoto (西本智実) is a Japanese conductor. Biography Tomomi Nishimoto was born in Osaka, Japan on 22 April 1970. Her experience learning to play the piano from her mother at the age of three as well as her mother's musical influence ...

- conductor *

Nikolai Obukhov Nikolai Borisovich Obukhov (russian: Николай Борисович Обухов; Nicolai, Nicolas, Nikolay; Obukhow, Obouhow, Obouhov, Obouhoff) (22 April 189213 June 1954)Jonathan Powell. "Obouhow, Nicolas." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Mu ...

– composer *

Leo Ornstein Leo Ornstein (born ''Лев Орнштейн'', ''Lev Ornshteyn''; – February 24, 2002) was an American experimental composer and pianist of the early twentieth century. His performances of works by avant-garde composers and his own innovative ...

– composer *

– composer, pianist, conductor * Gal Rasché - conductor, pianist, teacher *

Nadia Reisenberg Nadia Reisenberg Sherman (14 July 1904 – 10 June 1983) was an American pianist of Lithuanian birth. Biography Nadia Reisenberg was born in Vilnius to a Jewish family. Her parents were Aaron and Rachel Reisenberg., adapted from Dr. Anne K. Gray' ...

- pianist *

– violin prodigy, theremin performer * Livery Antonovich Sacchetti – Russian music historian * David Serero - opera singer * Ilya Serov - trumpeter *

Don Shirley Donald Walbridge Shirley (January 29, 1927 – April 6, 2013) was an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. He recorded many albums for Cadence Records during the 1950s and 1960s, experimenting with jazz with a classical influen ...

- pianist, arranger, composer * Dmitri Shostakovich – composer, pianist * Nadezhda Simonyan - composer * Kuldar Sink — composer, flautist *

– pianist *

Grigory Sokolov Grigory Lipmanovich Sokolov (russian: Григо́рий Ли́пманович Соколо́в; born April 18, 1950) is a Russian pianist naturalized Spanish. He is among the most esteemed of living pianists, his repertoire spanning composers fr ...

– pianist * Lyubov Streicher - composer *

– composer *

Yuri Temirkanov Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov (russian: Ю́рий Хату́евич Темирка́нов; kbd, Темыркъан Хьэту и къуэ Юрий; born December 10, 1938) is a Russian conductor of Circassian ( Kabardian) origin. Early life B ...

– conductor *

Dimitri Tiomkin Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin (, ; May 10, 1894 – November 11, 1979) was a Russian-born American film composer and conductor. Classically trained in St. Petersburg, Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution, he moved to Berlin and then New York City ...

– pianist, composer * Elena Tsallagova – soprano * Vera Vinogradova-pianist, composer * Zino Vinnikov – violinist *

Solomon Volkov Solomon Moiseyevich Volkov (russian: Соломон Моисеевич Волков; born 17 April 1944) is a Russian journalist and musicologist. He is best known for ''Testimony'', which was published in 1979 following his emigration from the So ...

– musicologist *

Ivan Yershov Ivan Vasiliyevitch Yershov or Ershov (russian: Иван Васильевич Ершов) (November 8, 1867 – November 21, 1943), PAU, was a Soviet and Russian opera singer. He earned renown for his brilliant performances at the Mariinsky Theat ...

– singer *

– pianist * Mikhail Youdin – composer *

Maria Yudina Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

– pianist *

Stefania Anatolyevna Zaranek Stefania Anatolyevna Zaranek (23 September 190417 January 1972) was a Soviet composer, pianist, and artistic director. Zaranek was born in Kotelnich, Russian Empire, and studied at the Leningrad Conservatory with M. Steinberg and Samariy Savshins ...

- composer * Anatoly Zatin - composer, pianist, conductor * Valery Zhelobinsky – pianist, composer *

Efrem Zimbalist Efrem Zimbalist Sr. ( – February 22, 1985) was a concert violinist, composer, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music. Early life Efrem Zimbalist Sr. was born on April 9, 1888, O. S., equivalent to April 21, 1889, in the Greg ...

- violinist

References

External links

Official website
(in Russian, French and English)

{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1862 1862 establishments in the Russian Empire Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg