Maxim Rysanov was born in Kramatorsk (Donetsk Region). Graduated from the Central School of Music of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory (class of Maria Sitkovskaya) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London (viola class of John Glickman and conducting class of Alan Hazeldine). Has attended conducting masterclasses given by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Oleg Caetani and Jorma Panula.
Has appeared at the BBC Proms festival, the Mostly Mozart and Crescendo festivals, festivals in Verbier, Salzburg, Edinburgh, Berlin, Istanbul, Hong Kong and Beijing, as well as at the Sofia Gubaidulina International Festival of Contemporary Music Concordia in Kazan and at the Trans-Siberian Art Festival. Recipient of the Classic FM Gramophone Award in the category “Young Artist of the Year” (2008) and the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Award (2007–2009), prize-winner at several prestigious music competitions including the Premio Valentino Bucchi competition in Rome (1995; 1st prize), the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition in Port Erin (Isle of Man, 2003; 2nd prize) and the Geneva International Music Competition (2005; 2nd prize).
Has participated in world premiere performances of works by such contemporary composers as Giya Kancheli, Dobrinka Tabakova, Pēteris Vasks, Richard Dubugnon, Valentin Bibik, Leonid Desyatnikov, Benjamin Yusupov, Krzysztof Penderecki, Artem Vassiliev, Elena Langer, Sergey Akhunov and Alexei Kurbatov.
As a violist, he has appeared with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Jiří Bělohlávek, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra under Andrey Boreyko, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León under Vasily Petrenko, the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra under Krzysztof Penderecki, the Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Tugan Sokhiev, the hr-Sinfonieorchester under Philippe Herreweghe, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Fedoseyev, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuri Simonov and the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra under Alexander Sladkovsky among numerous other ensembles.
Has conducted the Sinfonieorchester Basel, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, the Georgian National Symphony Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia (Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra), the Moscow Chamber Orchestra Musica Viva, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, the National Chamber Ensemble Kyiv Soloists and the Sinfonietta Rīga orchestra among others.
Has performed chamber music together with Leif Ove Andsnes, Nicola Benedetti, Martin Fröst, Sol Gabetta, Janine Jansen, Jacob Katsnelson, Gidon Kremer, Konstantin Lifschitz, Mischa Maisky, Denis Matsuev, Viktoria Mullova, Eldar Nebolsin, Alexei Ogrinchuk, Vadim Repin, Alexander Sitkovetsky and Maxim Vengerov.
On more than one occasion, Maxim Rysanov’s recordings have been awarded the ICMA award for classical music, the ECHO KLASSIK prize, awards and nominations in Gramophone magazine in “Editor’s Choice” as well as heading iTunes ratings in the USA. in 2014 for an album of works by Dobrinka Tabakova (String Paths, ECM, 2013) Rysanov was nominated for a GRAMMY award as violist and conductor. in 2017 Onyx released a double disc with music by Schubert and composers he inspired; Maxim’s work as a conductor and as a musician proved to be “Critics’ Choice of the Year” in Gramophone magazine. 2020 saw the release of an album of music by Pēteris Vasks (Viola Concerto and Symphony No. 1 Voices, together with the Sinfonietta Rīga orchestra).
He performs on a Giuseppe Guadagnini viola crafted in 1780, on generous loan from the Premiere Performances of Hong Kong.
Information for July 2021