Ilan Volkov
Conductor
A musical omnivore, Ilan Volkovserves as 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, with festivals in Adelaide, Oslo, New York, Tel Aviv, Krakow, Athens, Glasgow and Reykjavík. In 2020, he co-founded the I&I Foundation with Ilya Gringolts to support the development and performance of new music.
Equally at home in opera, his extensive operatic ventures have included “Peter Grimes” for Washington National Opera and Glyndebourne Festival, Gerald Barry’s “The Importance of Being Ernest” at the Lincoln Center with New York Philharmonic, Olga Neuwirth’s “The Outcast” in Vienna and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and most recently George Benjamin’s “Lessons in Love and Violence” at Opernhaus Zürich. He also conducted the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s new work “The Listeners” with Norwegian National Opera, and Samir Odeh-Tamimi’s new creation “L’Apocalyspe Arabe” for the Aix Festival.
Volkov’s diverse discography includes Stravinsky’s ballet scores and a Gramophone Award-winning recording of Britten’s complete works for piano and orchestra, both for Hyperion, and a critically acclaimed survey of Liszt’s three Funeral Odes with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He has a podcast for Radio Halas, in which he explores his extensive musical tastes and interviews colleagues.