Alexander Vedernikov was Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre from 2001 until 2009 and has been credited with rebuilding the Bolshoi Theatre’s historical reputation for artistic excellence.  He led many productions at the Bolshoi, including a new production of Boris Godunov in the original Mussorgsky orchestrations (2007),  Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (2006), Puccini’s Turandot (2006), Prokofiev's Cinderella (2006), Prokofiev’s War and Peace (2005/2006), Leonid Desyatnikov’s The Children of Rosenthal (world premiere, commissioned by the Bolshoi Theatre), The Flying Dutchman (2004), Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel (2004), Ruslan and Ludmila (2003), Turandot (2002), Khovanshchina (2002) and Adriana Lecouvreur (2002).

He was also responsible for developing the Bolshoi’s programme of symphonic concerts, and has featured very broad repertoire, including Prokofiev's Cinderella, Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, Verdi’s Requiem, scenes from the operas of Wagner, and music by Richard Strauss, Alban Berg, Dmitry Shostakovich, and Georgy Sviridov.  Under his direction, the orchestra of the Bolshoi toured extensively, including to Athens, Hamburg and Paris in February 2008 and a season of opera and ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in July 2006 (including The Fiery Angel and Boris Godounov) where the orchestra in particular was singled out for its exceptional playing.  Recent opera and symphonic performances at La Scala were equally successful.

Aside from his immense success in Russia, Alexander performs extensively throughout Europe and further afield. Recent seasons have included engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Verdi, Milan, City of Birmingham Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra (at Mariss Janssons’ personal request), Maggio Musicale Florence, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana (with Martha Argerich at the Martha Argerich Project in Lugano), Netherlands Philharmonic,Hamburg Philharmonic, and symphonic programmes with the orchestras of the Teatro Comunale Florence and Teatro Comunale Cagliari. He has also conducted the  NHK Symphony Orchestra,  Staatskapelle Dresden, Montreal Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the RAI National Orchestra (Turin), the Bergen Philharmonic, Budapest Symphony and the Orchestra of the Teatro Colon.  In 2011/2012 highlights include his participation in the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Prokofiev festival, debuts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Bournemouth Symphony and return performances with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Gothenburg Symphony, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and many others.

In the field of opera, Alexander Vedernikov is now a frequent conductor at Berlin’s Komische Oper, and has worked throughout Italy at La Scala Milan, La Fenice, the Teatro Comunale Bologna, the Teatro Reggio Turin, and Rome Opera.  In April 2005, he made his debut at the Bastille Opera in Paris conducting a new production of Boris Godunov directed by Francesca Zambello.  He recently made a highly successful debut at the Finnish National Opera and in 2012/2013 makes his debut at the Zurich Opera and the following season at The Metropolitan Opera in New York conducting Eugene Onegin.

Born in Moscow into a musical family - his father was a bass soloist at the Bolshoi and his mother a professor of organ at the Moscow Conservatoire - he studied at the Moscow Conservatoire and completed his postgraduate studies in 1990.

From 1988-90, he worked at Moscow’s Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre.  From 1988-95, he was assistant to the chief conductor and second conductor of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra (formerly Gosteleradio’s Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra), whom he accompanied on many tours in Russia, Austria, Germany, Greece, Turkey and Great Britain.  In 1995, he founded the Russian Philharmonia Symphony Orchestra and was Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of this orchestra until 2004.  He has conducted Russia’s State Symphony Orchestra and the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St Petersburg Philharmonic.  Since 2003, he has been a member of the conductors’ collegium of the Russian National Orchestra, with whom he has toured in France, Germany and the United States. In January 2004, as part of the Russian National Orchestra’s tour of nine cities, Alexander Vedernikov made his debut at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Centre, Washington.

In September 2009 Alexander took up the role of Chief Conductor of the Odense Orchestra in Denmark.