Vasily Petrenko launches academy for young conductors

Conductor Vasily Petrenko has launched a new Academy for Young Conductors, set to take place this summer. Running from 2 to 6 July, the Academy will present courses for emerging talent at Yerevan’s Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall.

The Academy is a collaborative venture between Petrenko, the Primavera Foundation Armenia and the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra. Designed for young conductors, courses will offer participants hands-on experience through individual rehearsals with the symphony orchestra and Petrenko as well as seminars on topic including the ‘Secrets of Conducting Off the Stage’.

Petrenko said: ‘The Academy is an opportunity for young conductors to have a workshop with someone more experienced, with a bigger career, and with a real orchestra. For me, the Academy is about supporting the growth, nurturing the talents of the next generation of conductors, and giving them chances.’

This year’s academy will culminate in a closing gala concert during which course participants will present the pieces they have been working on with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra. Submissions from international participants born between 1989 and 2006 are invited until the application deadline of 3 June. Application information can be found on the Primavera Foundation of Armenia website.