Vasily Petrenko

Vasily Petrenko is a Russian-born British conductor currently Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

Born July 7th, 1976, Petrenko began his music eduction at Russia’s oldest music school, the St. Petersburg Capella Boys Music School, before going on to study conducting at the city’s conservatoire under Ravil Martynov, and beginning his professional career as Resident Conductor of the St. Petersburg Mikhailovsky Theatre in 1994. Following multiple successes in international competition - including first prize in the 1997 Shostakovich Choral Conducting Competition and the 2002 Cadaqués International Conducting Competition - Petrenko was appointed Chief Conductor of the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra in 2004.

He served as Principal Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain from 2009 to 2013 and Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra from 2013 to 2020, but is best known for his association with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO). Having first guest conducted the RLPO in 2004, it was announced that Petrenko would become the orchestra’s next Principal Conductor commencing at the start of the 2006 - 2007 season. What began with an initial three-year contract became a celebrated fifteen-year tenure during which Petrenko - whose title was changed to Chief Conductor in 2009 - helped transform the orchestra’s financial fortunes and revitalise their repertoire.

Petrenko stood down from his Chief Conductorship with the RLPO in 2021 to take on the role of Music Director with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. Recent highlights of his tenure include tours of Europe, the United States and Asia, an acclaimed performance at Carnegie Hall in New York featuring a programme of British composers, and a survey of Mahler’s Choral Symphonies at the Royal Albert Hall. In 2024 - in recognition of Petrenko’s artistic leadership and the impact it continues to have on the orchestra - he was rewarded with a contract extension through to 2030.

In addition to his permanent posts, Petrenko has worked with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, conducted widely on the operatic stage, and has also received widespread acclaim as a recording artist, most notably for his symphony cycles of Shostakovich and Rachmaninov with the RLPO. He is the recipient of many awards and accolades including the Gramophone Artist of the Year in 2017 (a decade after he received the corresponding Young Artist award) and the 2010 Male Artist of the Year at the Classical BRIT Awards.

In recognition of his phenomenal impact on the city’s cultural scene, Petrenko was also awarded Honorary Doctorates from the University of Liverpool and Liverpool Hope University (2009), and an Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores (2012).