Early Career

Born in 1988 into a family of musicians, Maxim Emelyanychev received his music education in his home city Nizhny Novgorod (conducting and piano) and in Gennady Rozhdestvensky’s conducting class at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

Shortly after his conducting debut at the age of 12, Maxim Emelyanychev was invited to conduct quite a few international baroque and symphonic orchestras in Russia.

In 2013, he has been appointed Principal Conductor of the historically informed orchestra Il Pomo d’Oro.

In 2014, he made remarquable debut in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Teatro de la Maestranza. These critically acclaimed performances were swiftly followed by a series of symphonic guest engagements all over Europe.

2016 - 2024

The 2016/17 season featured a major international tour with Il Pomo d’Oro Orchestra and Joyce DiDonato, his debut at the Opernhaus Zürich in Mozart’s Entführung aus dem Serail and debut at the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, which will bring him to lead this orchestra three times a year since then.

In 2017/18 in addition to his fourth visit to both the Toulouse National and the Real Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevilla, Maxim made his debut with the following orchestras: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre National de Bordeaux and the Saint-Petersburg Symphony. An invitation to conduct the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Schubert Symphony No. 9 on a last-minute replacement led the enthused musicians to appoint him their new Principal Conductor, effective from the autumn of 2019.

In the 2018/19 season Emelyanychev made his debuts with the Antwerpen Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen and the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Maxim also took Il Pomo d’Oro on a three weeks tour of Asia and the Middle East with Joyce DiDonato.

In November 2019, on the very first concert of his mandate as Principal Conductor, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra extended his contract until 2025.

Throughout 2019/20, Emelyanychev also conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at two of the major international opera institutions: the Glyndebourne Festival (Handel Rinaldo, with Jakub Orlinski in the title role) and the Royal Opera House (Handel Agrippina, with Joyce DiDonato in the title role). He returned to the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Other engagements included the following debuts: Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria and Seattle Symphony for his US debut.

Maxim’s 2020/21 engagements included the Geneva Grand Theatre in Mozart’s Clemenza di Tito and the Toulouse Théâtre du Capitole in Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro. Debuts with the Orchestre de Paris, the Atlanta Symphony, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the London Philharmonic and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra followed. Due to the Covid19 pandemic his debut appearances with the Münchner Philharmoniker and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra were postponed to 2022.

In August 2021 Maxim and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra were invited to participate to the BBC Proms and to the Edinburgh International Festival, to which they returned in 2022.

In 2021/22 Maxim and Il Pomo d’Oro, together with Joyce DiDonato went on three different concert tours, in Europe and the USA, in Haendel Theodora – which was recorded for Warner in 2021 – and Eden, a programme dedicated to Nature.

Other 2021/22 highlights included several debuts: Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. They include returns to the Antwerpen Symphony, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and a European tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, followed by appearances at the Radio-France Montpellier Festival and at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Maxim’s 2022/23 activities saw him in a US tour and a performance at the London Proms with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and in debuts with the Berliner Philharmoniker, New Japan Philharmonic, Osaka Kansai Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. They also include returns to the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and at the Royal Opera House in Mozart's The Magic Flute.

In the meantime, Maxim undertook a recording of the complete Mozart symphonies with Il Pomo d’Oro for the label Aparté.

In 2023/24 Maxim’s highlights included the following debuts: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Mozarteum Orchestra at the Salzburg Festival. He also returns to the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Other highlights: a violin-piano recital with Aylen Pritchin at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, a European tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and an Asian tour with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris.

Recordings

Maxim has recorded several CDs for Warner Classics/Erato at the head of Il Pomo d’Oro, among which a Haydn symphonies and concertos album with Ricardo Minasi and In War and Peace, Harmony through music with Joyce DiDonato, which won the Gramophone Award 2017. For Warner Classics he has also recorded two CDs with counter-tenor Jakub Orlinski: Face d’Amore and Anima Sacra and Haendel’s Agrippina, with Joyce DiDonato in the title role, which won the Gramophone Classical music Award 2020 – Category Opera.

In 2019 Linn Records released Maxim’s first CD with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Schubert Symphony No. 9. They have since recorded Mendelssohn Symphonies Nos 3 and 5. Their CD of Schubert Symphonies Nos 5 and 8 will be released in November 2024.

Under the French label Aparté, Maxim’s CD of Mozart Sonatas on fortepiano won a “Choc de Classica 2018” and the “ICMA 2019”. This CD was followed by Brahms Sonatas for piano and violin with violinist Aylen Pritchin in 2021.

More recently Maxim and Il Pomo d’Oro have undertaken the complete Mozart Symphonies recording. Volume I and II have received rave reviews. The volume III was released in the Spring 2024.

Awards

Maxim was a recipient of the Young Talent Award 2019 in the Music Section of the Critics’ Circle. The same year he was awarded an international Opera Award in the New Comer category.

Laureate of numerous harpsichord, piano and conducting’s international competitions Maxim was awarded in 2013 the Golden Mask for his participation as the harpsichordist in the production of Nozze di Figaro of the Perm Opera Theatre conducted by Teodor Currentzis (Sony Classical).

SCO 6^th Principal Conductor

At the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, he follows in the footsteps of just five previous Principal Conductors in the Orchestra’s 50 year history; Roderick Brydon (1974-1983), Jukka-Pekka Saraste (1987-1991), Ivor Bolton (1994-1996), Joseph Swensen (1996-2005) and Robin Ticciati (2009-2018).