Biography
Maxim Emelyanychev inspires a true spirit of adventure among his collaborators, shaping performances that pulse with shared energy, spontaneity, and imagination. Renowned for his infectious enthusiasm, he brings out the individuality of each musician while forging a distinctive and compelling collective sound.
Since 2019, Maxim has served as Principal Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He is also Chief Conductor of the period-instrument ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro and, from the 2025/26 season, takes up the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
His relationship with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra began dramatically in 2018, when a last-minute invitation to step in as conductor resulted in an immediate and unanimous appointment as Principal Conductor, effective from the 2019/20 season. On the very first day of his mandate, his contract was extended through 2025, and it has since been further renewed until 2028.
With the SCO, Maxim has appeared at the BBC Proms, toured extensively across Europe, and recorded symphonies by Schubert and Mendelssohn for Linn Records. At the Edinburgh International Festival, he has led widely acclaimed concert performances of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Così fan tutte in recent seasons.
Following his debut with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2022, Maxim was appointed Principal Guest Conductor for an initial three-year term beginning in the 2025/26 season.
Maxim leads Il Pomo d’Oro from the harpsichord. Since his appointment as Principal Conductor in 2013, he has undertaken numerous international concert tours and recordings with the ensemble, including high-profile collaborations with artists such as mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato and counter-tenor Jakub Józef Orliński. Emelyanychev and Il Pomo d’Oro have recently initiated the complete Mozart Symphonies recording for Aparté.
As a guest conductor, Emelyanychev enjoys working equally with chamber and symphonic orchestras. His collaborations include the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestre de chambre de Paris, and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. In recent seasons, he has also conducted leading symphonic ensembles such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Rotterdam Philharmonic, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Radio-France Orchestre Philharmonique, Orchestre National de France, Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Seattle Symphony, Toronto Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Yomiuri Symphony to name a few.
His opera credits include Handel’s Rinaldo at Glyndebourne, Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Covent Garden and Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Zurich.
His artistic partnership with Joyce DiDonato has been widely acclaimed and has received several major awards, including the Gramophone Award 2017 for their recording In War and Peace: Harmony through Music, as well as the Gramophone Opera Award 2020 for their recording of Handel’s Agrippina.
Maxim’s awards also include the International Opera Award/New Comer, the Critics’ Circle Young Talent Award, the Choc Classica 2018 and ICMA 2019 for his Mozart Piano Sonatas CD, as well as more recently the highly prestigious Herbert von Karajan Prize.
Alongside his conducting career, playing keyboard instruments—harpsichord, fortepiano, and modern piano—remains a central part of Maxim’s musical life. He is deeply committed to creating a spirit of equal and genuine collaboration with the musicians he performs with or conducts.
As a pianist, he has partnered Joyce DiDonato in performances of Schubert’s Winterreise at the Staatsoper Berlin, the Vienna Musikverein, London’s Wigmore Hall, and DeSingel in Antwerp.
His long-standing piano–violin duo with violinist Aylen Pritchin has led to recital appearances in Paris Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Antwerp De Singel, La Grange de Meslay, Dubrovnik Festival, Amsterdam Het Concertgebouw and Luxembourg Philharmonie. Maxim and Aylen have recorded the Brahms piano and violin Sonatas for Aparté, CD which has won praise from the press and colleagues.
Maxim’s multifaceted versatility has earned him invitations from leading international venues to serve as a season resident, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Philharmonie Essen for the 2025/26 season.
Born in 1988 in Nizhny Novgorod, Emelyanychev made his conducting debut at the age of 12 and studied under Gennady Rozhdestvensky at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire.
