The Rachmaninoff Festival, already held to great acclaim in Beijing, Rotterdam, London, St Petersburg and Samara, is being held in the Far East for the first time at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in Vladivostok and at the Khabarovsk Regional Philharmonic

From 27 to 29 January the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev will give three performances at the Rudolfinum, one of Prague’s oldest concert halls

On 27 January one of the longest-serving employees of the Mariinsky Theatre Professor Leonid Yevgenievich Gakkel, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation and Doctor of the History of Art, will celebrate his eightieth birthday

On 21 and 22 January Valery Gergiev will conduct the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra at the Great Hall of the De Doelen music complex, while on 23 January the orchestra will be appearing at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam

Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre Valery Gergiev has announced the name of the Principal Conductor of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in Vladivostok; the post has been given to Mariinsky Theatre conductor Pavel Smelkov. The Principal Guest Conductor of the Primorsky Stage is Mariinsky Theatre guest conductor Vladislav Karklin

The XVI International Ballet Festival will run at the Mariinsky Theatre from 31 March to 10 April 2016

On 5 and 7 February at the Mariinsky-II there will be a stage premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Simon Boccanegra after the eponymous drama by Antonio García Gutiérrez

This year the first European concerts by Valery Gergiev and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, of which the maestro has been director since the start of the current season, will run from 12 to 17 January

On Sunday 10 January at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre there will be a performance by leading Mariinsky Opera soloist Mikhail Petrenko. The singer’s recital programme includes vocal works by Sergei Rachmaninoff