Kirill Karabits OBE
Contact
For availability and general enquiries:
Ignatius Sokal
Terry Shew
For contracts, logistics and press:
Maya Feldman
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.
Representation
Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt
Season Highlights
Video
World-Famous Ukrainian Conductor Discovers Lost Music Not Played for 100 Years
Credit: Kirill Karabits
PlayingLiszt: A Symphony to Dante’s 'Divina Commedia'
Deep emotions and sombre laments, the torments of Hell and the radiance of Paradise, and the sounds of celebration: the Staatskapelle Weimar and Kirill Karabits are continuing their partnership on the audite label with Franz Liszt’s symphonic poem Tasso: Lamento e Trionfo, his Symphony to Dante’s ‘Divina Commedia’ and – a world-premiere recording on CD – his Künstlerfestzug zur Schillerfeier. Credit: Audite
PlayingBorn in the USA – Concert Highlights
Here are a few highlights from this week’s all-American programme of Copland, Barber violin concerto and Gershwin. Conductor: Kirill Karabits Violin: Valeriy Sokolov Follow the BSO on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bsorchestra/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BSOlive/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/BSOrchestra Website: https://bsolive.com Credit: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
PlayingI,Culture Orchestra - Avet Terterian: Symphony no. 3
Polish Baltic Frédéric Chopin Philharmonic Credit: Kirill Karabits
PlayingAli-Zadeh: Cosmology - Extract
Recorded live at Lighthouse, Poole, on 6th April 2022 as part of the BSO Digital Concert Season Credit: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Playing
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 LighthouseMay 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. ★★★★★
- The Times
- 09 May 2024
Discography
- Shostakovich, Symphony No.13 “Babiy Yar”
- I Vespri Verdiani - Verdi Arias
- LISZT: Künstlerfestzug - Tasso - Dante Symphony
- LISZT: Faust Symphony – Mephisto Waltz
- VOICES FROM THE EAST No. 3: Avet Rubeni Terterian, Symphonies No. 3&4
- Tchaikovsky Treasures, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Guy Braunstein
- Liszt, Sardanapalo (first recording), Mazeppa
- Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Corelli Variations
- VOICES FROM THE EAST No. 2: Boris Lyatoshynsky, Symphony No. 3, Grazhyna
- Richard Strauss: Macbeth, Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration
- Prokofiev, Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution
- Walton, Symphonies 1&2
- VOICES FROM THE EAST No. 1: Karayev, Orchestral Works
- Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No.1; Glazunov: Violin Concerto
- Prokofiev - Symphonies 4 & 6
- Prokofiev - Symphonies 4 & 5
- Prokofiev - Symphonies 3 & 7
- Prokofiev - Symphonies 1 & 2 / Sinfonietta
- Ivan Karabits, Concertos for Orchestra
- Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 “Little Russian” / Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
- Khachaturian: Spartacus & Gayaneh Ballet Suites
- Rodion Shchedrin: Concertos for orchestra
- Britten & Shostakovich Violin Concertos, James Ehnes
Kirill Karabits makes double debut at the Ravinia Festival
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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