Jess Gillam with Vasily Petrenko
Vasily Petrenko joined saxophonist and presenter Jess Gillam on BBC Radio 3’s This Classical Life. On 30 May, he joins Jess to share some of his favourite music, giving a conductor’s insight into the big works of Shostakovich and Beethoven, and revealing more eclectic tastes with tracks by Björk and Pink Floyd. Jess, meanwhile, plays Vasily some Vivaldi and Duke Ellington, and music for saxophone and orchestra by the Finnish composer Kalevi Aho.
This August, Vasily Petrenko will conduct the Verbier Festival Orchestra at the Verbier Festival. Looking ahead to the performance, Vasily comments: “Verbier is one of the great summer festivals in Europe, and when you are there, you feel it. The calibre of musicians...
The second Academy for Young Conductors will take place in Yerevan, Armenia, from June 23-28, 2026. Vasily comments: “This year we received 159 applications from 22 countries for six places. That tells you something about how much young conductors want this kind of...
Vasily comments: “Performing alongside Anne-Sophie Mutter is always an event. She is one of the great violinists of her generation, and she has a particular connection to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. We are performing Beethoven's Violin Concerto alongside...