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Kirill Karabits OBE

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Conductor
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For availability and general enquiries:

For contracts, logistics and press:

Maya Feldman

Maya Feldman

Assistant Artist Manager

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

About Kirill

Kirill Karabits has been Chief Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for 15 years, and their relationship is celebrated worldwide. Together, they have made many critically acclaimed recordings, performed regularly at the BBC Proms, celebrated the re-opening of Bristol Beacon, appeared together at London’s Barbican Centre as part of the Beethoven celebrations and at Southbank Centre for Kirill’s bold programming brand Voices from the East.

Highlights of the 2024/25 season include Kirill’s debut performances with the Orchestre de Paris and SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart, return visits to Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI, Belgrade Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony, and the Norwegian Opera for a new production of Stravinsky’s The Rakes Progress Opera. He also embarks on a major South African Tour with the Mzansi National Philharmonic. In his title of Conductor Emeritus, Kirill returns to Bournemouth Symphony for a dazzling Voices-from-the-East-inspired programme.

As guest conductor, Kirill has worked with many leading orchestras, including the Münchner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, and in North America with Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Toronto Symphony and The Cleveland Orchestra.

A prolific opera conductor, Kirill has worked with the Deutsche Oper (Don Giovanni), Opernhaus Zürich (Boris Godunov, La Bohème), Oper Stuttgart (Death in Venice), Glyndebourne Festival Opera (La Bohème, Eugene Onegin), Staatsoper Hamburg (Madama Butterfly), English National Opera (Don Giovanni, Die tote Stadt), The Grange Festival (Così fan tutte), and conducted a performance of Der fliegende Holländer at the Wagner Geneva Festival in celebration of the composer’s anniversary.

Kirill is based in Paris, France

Download programme biography   

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

Season Highlights

Sep 2024 - Oct 2024
Oslo Opera House
STRAVINSKY: The Rakes Progress Norwegian National Opera
Oct 2024
Philharmonie de Paris
AKIMENKO: "Angel, Poem-Nocturne" RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No. 2 NOURBAKHSH: "Knell" SCRIABIN: Symphony No. 2 Khatia Buniatishvili (piano) Orchestre de Paris
Nov 2024
Tampere Filharmonia
KARABITS: Concert Suite for Violins GLIÈRE: Concerto for Coloratura and Orchestra Op. 82 PROKOFIEV: On the Dnieper Suite, from the ballet, Op. 51 PROKOFIEV: Scythian Suite, Op. 20 Uliana Aleksyuk (soprano) Tampere Philharomic Orchestra

Photos

Sample Programmes

  • Voices from the East

    Discover Kirill Karabits' unique programming brand - "Voices from the East" - focusing on forgotten or unknown symphonic masterpieces from Central Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe: https://kirillkarabits.com/voices-from-the-east/ 1 Franghiz Ali-Zadeh: "Nagillar" (Fairy Tales) Chary Nurymov: Symphony No. 2 Kara Karayev: Selection from the "Seven Beauties" Ballet Suite 2 Giya Kancheli: "Styx" for viola, mixed choir and orchestra Avet Terterian: Symphony No. 3 (featuring two Duduk players) 3 Thomas de Hartmann: "The Scarlet Flower" Suite Anna Korsun: "Terricone" Borys Lyatoshynsky: Symphony No. 4 Valentin Silvestrov: "Farewell Serenade"

News

Press

  • Tchaikovsky, Iolanta

    Poole Lighthouse
    May 2024
    • ...the orchestra mustered plenty of fervour and the result was a triumph. As the blind-from-birth princess Iolanta gained her sight in the opera’s final moments and saw her future hubby and protective father for the first time — with Tchaikovsky’s music swirling into sonic ecstasy — the whole audience rose to its feet and I doubt I was the only one to feel a little tearful. ★★★★★

Kirill Karabits makes double debut at the Ravinia Festival

/01 August 2016

This week, Kirill Karabits will give his debut at the Ravinia Festival in his debut performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Joined by pianist Paul Lewis, Kirill will conduct Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 in G major as well as Prokofiev’s Symphony No.5

In an interview earlier this year, Kirill talked about how he approaches working with an orchestra for the first time, saying: "In the first rehearsal I will probably just run the symphony from the beginning to the end. I need to hear how the orchestra react and what sound they offer without me telling them how to play ... Orchestras of that level are technically very advanced and react very quickly so it’s a rather delicate, refined communication which is not about learning notes – you have to show musicians the reason why you are standing there in the first place."

Read the full interview – Kirill Karabits on his journey this far, his plans for the future, and the importance of his homeland – here.

The remainder of the 15/16 season sees Kirill return to the Edinburgh International Festival to conduct two different programmes including Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Scriabin, with the Russian National Orchestra on 20 and 21 August.

Kirill conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival on Friday 5 August at 8pm. Find out more on the festival's website

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