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Lidiya Yankovskaya
 
 
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Refugee to World-renowned conductor
Refugee to World-renowned conductor

CBS6 News

Albany, NY

"My favorite thing about conducting is probably the ability to connect with the audience. There are so few places in our world today where we all get to come together and communally experience something."

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From refugee to maestro: Yankovskaya returns to lead Albany Symphony
From refugee to maestro: Yankovskaya returns to lead Albany Symphony

CBS6 Morning News

Albany, NY

Yankovskaya stopped by the CBS6 studio and talked to morning anchor Julia Dunn about her journey to the U.S. and her love for music.

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The Roundtable: Albany Symphony presents a concert conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya
The Roundtable: Albany Symphony presents a concert conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya

Northeast Public Radio WAMC

Albany, NY

“My high school orchestra conductor saw something in me. Jeff not only put me on the podium and gave me this opportunity but he gave me time with the orchestra, and he created this atmosphere where the other students and I could collaborate and work together as one. As soon as I got on that podium, it just felt right.”

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Guilderland grad, conducting star to lead Albany Symphony
Guilderland grad, conducting star to lead Albany Symphony

Albany Times-Union

Albany, NY

“Storytelling is how we evolve as humans. It is how we make change and enact change. It is how we preserve tradition as well, and how we deal with emotional crises, and also how we absorb the most joyful times in our lives.”

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Guilderland's Lidiya Yankovskaya to direct Albany Symphony
Guilderland's Lidiya Yankovskaya to direct Albany Symphony

The Daily Gazette

Albany, NY

“I loved bringing people together and making things happen and drawing out the best in them,” Yankovskaya said. “That appealed to me: be a maker, a doer. To thrill and move an audience. It's so powerful. And it's different because it's collaborative. As a pianist, it's so lonely. But as a conductor it's more fun with other people and more challenging.”

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Albany Symphony Guest Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya
Albany Symphony Guest Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya

Classical WMHT

Albany, NY

World-renowned conductor and Guilderland High School graduate Lidiya Yankovskaya returns to the Capital Region to guest conduct the Albany Symphony—the orchestra whose concerts she regularly attended while growing up.

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'Music has a powerful way of bringing people together'
'Music has a powerful way of bringing people together'

Financial Times

London, UK

The music of different cultures has always been part of her life. Drawing these strands together leads to Yankovskaya’s commitment to new music.

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Guest Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya Brings Invigorating Perspective
Guest Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya Brings Invigorating Perspective

Nashville Scene

Nashville, TN

In the male-dominated world of classical music, conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya often garners attention as the only woman in the room. It’s not a distinction she ever sought out, or even gave much thought to. Her focus has always been on the music.

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The MCR Interview: Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya
The MCR Interview: Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya

Music City Review

Nashville, TN

Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya recently met with MCR journalist Daniel Krenz to talk about concert halls, music, and her approaching program with the Nashville Symphony.

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Operatic innovation
Operatic innovation

Classical Music Magazine

London, UK

With funding for new work an ever-shrinking resource, conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya tailors her approach to the budget available and – along with her peers – makes the case for experimentation in opera.

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Opera Australia stages Puccini's triptych
Opera Australia stages Puccini's triptych

Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The Music Show

Sydney, Australia

Russian-American conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya comes to Opera Australia to conduct Puccini’s Il trittico, a rare triptych of operas which span tragedy, farce, and religious fervour. Lidiya is at home with the operatic canon but she’s also conducted a swathe of new opera world premieres. She joins Andy to talk about finding the same passion for the music through new and old works.

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Defining limitless: Lidiya Yankovskaya on leadership and identity
Defining limitless: Lidiya Yankovskaya on leadership and identity

Opera Now

London, UK

Few musicians can claim to have conducted more than 40 world premieres by the age of 38. Step forward Lidiya Yankovskaya, the outgoing music director of Chicago Opera Theater and named Chicagoan of the Year for 2020. It seems startling to relinquish such a post, but Yankovskaya feels ready for the challenges ahead.

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Lidiya Yankovskaya rescues the ENO
Lidiya Yankovskaya rescues the ENO

The Sunday Times

London, UK

English National Opera needed a new conductor to jump into a production of a tricky and disturbing 20th-century masterpiece. Luckily there was an obvious candidate: why not get the conductor who had led another challenging 20th-century masterpiece at ENO — and had a triumph? So the Russian-American conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, the conductor of last year’s acclaimed ENO production of Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, stepped in.

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Closing the gap
Closing the gap

BBC Music Magazine

London, UK

The number of female conductors on the world’s orchestral podiums might be rising, but there is still some distance to cover, writes Jessica Duchen. Fast-rising star Lidiya Yankovskaya doesn’t mince her words about the challenges she has faced. “There’s a misconception that we’ve changed things more than we have. That’s because we started in a place that was so bad.”

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'The Nose' as COT Music Director's Last Hurrah
'The Nose' as COT Music Director's Last Hurrah

Musical America

Chicago, IL

As music director of the Chicago Opera Theater for the past seven years, Lidiya Yankovskaya has brought well­-earned attention to the company with her commitment to presenting compelling interpretations of a varied repertoire. Now she has said she will step down at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, with her final production as The Nose, Shostakovich's absurdist political satire.

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With ‘The Nose,’ transformative music director Lidiya Yankovskaya departs COT
With ‘The Nose,’ transformative music director Lidiya Yankovskaya departs COT

Chicago Tribune

Chicago, IL

Yankovskaya has raised the profile of COT immensely, her interpretations bracing and repertoire head-spinningly varied: She led 25 new-to-Chicago works, 11 of which were world premieres. She’s also fashioned COT as a primo stop for artists growing their careers by formalizing COT’s Young Artist Program and founding its Vanguard Initiative, which pairs first-time opera composers with accomplished librettists to trial-run a new work.

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"These days I live by my nose"
"These days I live by my nose"

The Reklama

Chicago, IL

On December 8 and 10, the Chicago premiere of the opera “The Nose” by D. Shostakovich will take place at the Chicago Opera Theater. The conductor is the musical director of the theater Lydia Yankovskaya. About the future performance, reasons for leaving COT and immediate plans - in an exclusive interview with the conductor.

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"The Nose" by Shostakovich at COT
"The Nose" by Shostakovich at COT

The Reklama

Chicago, IL

The central event of the fiftieth anniversary season of the Chicago Opera Theater is the Chicago premiere of D. Shostakovich’s opera “The Nose”. The conductor is the musical director of the theater Lydia Yankovskaya.

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Symphony San Jose opens with a dive into a storybook world
Symphony San Jose opens with a dive into a storybook world

San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco, CA

Symphony San Jose opens its season by exploring this theme with a program of music from various stories and legends. Under the baton of the dynamic Chicago conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, the orchestra casts a spotlight on music with a mythic undercurrent.

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Symphony San Jose concert heads for fanciful terrain
Symphony San Jose concert heads for fanciful terrain

Bay Area News Group

San Jose, CA

Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya believes in exploring music from a full spectrum — beloved classics of the repertoire, as well as ink-still-wet new works. With a strong commitment to innovation, Yankovskaya has become one of classical music’s essential artists.

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A Freudian Fairy Tale
A Freudian Fairy Tale

Pasatiempo

Santa Fe, NM

“The wonderful thing about Rusalka, like many great operas, is that the drama and the music are so woven together. So for me, the most important thing is finding that overall arc of the storytelling, and finding how each individual moment fits into the arc.”

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Lidiya Yankovskaya and Brent  Stevens
Lidiya Yankovskaya and Brent Stevens

KHFM

Santa Fe, NM

Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya makes her Santa Fe Opera debut this season with Dvorak’s Rusalka. KHFM Executive Director Brent Stevens does an in-depth preview of the piece and Lidiya’s role as music director.

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The Full Score
The Full Score

BBC Music Magazine

London, UK

Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya tells us why she thinks Anton Rubinstein deserves to be a more celebrated figure.

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Chicago Opera Theater Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya's Favorite Local Spots
Chicago Opera Theater Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya's Favorite Local Spots

Michigan Avenue Magazine

Chicago, IL

Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya shares her favorite local spots in Chicago with Michigan Avenue Magazine writer J.P. Anderson.

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Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya leads the Richmond Symphony season finale
Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya leads the Richmond Symphony season finale

NPR

Richmond, VA

“Mike Goldberg talks with Lidiya on ‘An Hour with the Richmond Symphony,’ discussing her musical background, the impact of Russian and American cultures on her career, and the repertoire for this weekend's program featuring Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, as well as works by American composers John Adams, Florence Price and James Lee III.”

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‘Really great art takes life as it is and portrays it as it is’:  Yankovskaya on the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
‘Really great art takes life as it is and portrays it as it is’: Yankovskaya on the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs

Opera Now

London, UK

“‘I can’t think of many companies that would do this work. To stage the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs is a big risk and a really out of the box idea. Most organisations would not have the confidence, even if they believed in it.’ The 37-year-old conductor debuts tonight at the English National Opera. She reflects on grief, balancing art with emotion and the importance of companies like the ENO.’”

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Dynamic conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya is leading from the front
Dynamic conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya is leading from the front

The Jewish Chronicle

London, UK

“My job is to bring people together to inspire them and help guide a unified interpretation. I think it would be healthy if all leadership were approached more like that, and less from a standpoint of beating people into submission, forcing something, or proving something. Great music-making isn’t about that and never can be.”

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How the World of Classical Music Has Responded to TÁR
How the World of Classical Music Has Responded to TÁR

RogerEbert

Chicago, IL

“I am glad that the film has sparked so much conversation about conducting,” said Yankovsaya, a rising star in classical music [and] music director of Chicago Opera Theater. “While it’s unfortunate that Tár is a negative character, I am heartened to know that now, when people think ‘conductor,’ the image in their minds might be of a woman.”

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Second Homes: Lidiya Yankovskaya speaks up for 'second' companies
Second Homes: Lidiya Yankovskaya speaks up for 'second' companies

Opera Magazine

London, UK

“It's a beautiful opportunity,” says Lidiya Yankovskaya. “A month of rehearsal, where the director, the singer and I get to think every day about every nuance of that emotional dramatic arc over the course of the piece. That is a luxury.” Speaking over Zoom during a rare day off between concerts in Detroit and Knoxville, the Russian-American conductor is palpably excited about her upcoming appearances at English National Opera.

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Lidiya Yankovskaya: music as a reflection of the world
Lidiya Yankovskaya: music as a reflection of the world

WUOT

Knoxville, TN

Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya was in Knoxville recently to conduct Oliver Herbert in the Dvořák cello concerto, also the Rosenkavalier suite and a new work by Missy Mazzoli. Charlotte Wilson catches up with her to discuss conducting and the future of music.

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