Ilan Volkov

Since his prodigious breakthrough as Assistant Conductor of Boston Symphony Orchestra at the age of 19, Ilan Volkov has matured into a versatile conductor whose interpretations of familiar repertoire are sought after internationally. He enjoys a long-standing relationship with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, as Principal Conductor from 2003, Principal Guest Conductor from 2009 to 2024, and currently as Creative Partner. He also serves as Principal Guest Conductor with Brussels Philharmonic where he develops and expands the path of new music with the orchestra.

A musical omnivore, Volkov is a dynamic figurehead of the international contemporary music scene. He launched the Tectonics Festival in 2012, which has since become one of the world’s most diverse and acclaimed celebrations of new music.

He works with ensembles around the globe and appears at the world’s foremost festivals. He is a regular visitor at the BBC Proms, the diversity of his programming over the past 25 years spanning Mozart’s Requiem to, most recently, Marko Nikodijevic’s gesualdo dub / raum mit gelöschter figur.

Equally at home in opera, he has conducted Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Grimes, and most recently George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence, the world premieres of Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners and Samir Odeh-Tamimi’s L’Apocalyspe Arabe.