The Siberian State Symphony Orchestra was established at the Krasnoyarsk Regional Philharmonic in 1976. The ensemble’s first season was launched in April 1977, and the first concert was conducted by Vladimir Svoysky at the Krasnoyarsk Pushkin Drama Theatre. From 1978 to 2003 the orchestra was directed by the conductor Ivan Shpiller, the last student of Alexander Gauk. Its expansive and broad-ranging repertoire was based on works from the classical Russian symphony music legacy.
Since 1989 the ensemble has frequently toured throughout Russia and internationally (Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Estonia, China and South Korea). In 1993 the orchestra was awarded “Academic” status.
The next stage in the orchestra’s artistic activities was linked to its work with Mark Kadin, who led it from 2004 to 2014. In this period the orchestra expanded its repertoire, presented numerous rarely performed works (including premieres in Krasnoyarsk), frequently collaborated with acclaimed soloists, was involved in education and enlightenment programmes with young people and performed charity concerts. In 2009 it was awarded the status of being a particularly meritorious cultural asset of Krasnoyarsk’s heritage.
Since 2015 the orchestra has been led by Vladimir Lande. Thanks to him, Krasnoyarsk audiences have been introduced to such rarely performed works as Weinberg’s Suite for Orchestra and have heard Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Schéhérazade and Beethoven’s Egmont overture among other scores. Experimental projects aimed at “growing” the audience have enjoyed great success; these include Extreme Classics, Scents of Spring, Ice Symphony and Cultural Capitals of the World. On the initiative of Vladimir Lande, 2016 saw the launch of the project A Symphony of Siberia, the aim of which has been to invite contemporary composers to collaborate with the Siberian State Symphony Orchestra.
The orchestra currently numbers over one hundred musicians. It gives performances at the Grand Hall of the St Petersburg Philharmonia, the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and the Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow, on several occasions it has appeared at the Belgrade Music Festival, and it regularly features in the Trans-Siberian Art Festival, the “New Names” for Russia’s Regions festival, the Dmitri Hvorostovsky Festival and the International Arts Festival Bells. The ensemble has collaborated with such musicians as Sviatoslav Richter, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Igor Oistrakh, Viktor Tretiakov, Dmitri Bashkirov, Gintaras Rinkevičius, Lev Vlassenko, Rudolf Kehrer, Lazar Berman, Mikhail Pletnev, Marina Mdivani, Andrei Gavrilov, Vladislav Chernushenko, Marina Yashvili, Liana Isakadze, Dmitry Polyakov, Nikolai Petrov, Viktor Pikaizen, Natalia Shakhovskaya, Igor Gavrish, Natalia Trull, Denis Matsuev, Vadim Repin, Nikolai Lugansky, Alexander Ghindin, Denis Shapovalov, Alexander Knyazev, Hibla Gerzmava, Angela Gheorghiu, Sergei Leiferkus and Dmitri Hvorostovsky to name but a few.
The orchestra collaborates with recording companies including Naxos, Melodiya, Parma and Navona among others. In 2017 a disc featuring Weinberg’s Seventeenth Symphony (Memory) and Suite for Orchestra, recorded by the ensemble under Vladimir Lande for the Naxos label in 2016, was included in the Quarterly Critic’s Choice list of the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
