Sasha Yankevych

Conductor

Biography

Described as having “an ardent and fiery temperament, which he balances with sensitivity and musicality… [Yankevych] should be followed very closely over the next few years.” Born in Ukraine in 1991, conductor Sasha Yankevych began playing piano at the age of ten and graduated with honors at the Music Academy of Bydgoszcz in Poland.

Later Sasha joined the Opera Studio of the Warsaw State Opera and Opera Studio of the Zürich Opera House, before working as korrepetitor and assistant conductor at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.

During those years, Sasha had the opportunity to work with eminent artists such as Fabio Luisi, Andreas Homoki, Gianluca Capuano, Jonathan Darlington, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Alan Gilbert, Asmik Grigorian, Anne Sofie von Otter, Benjamin Bernheim, Malin Byström, Adriana Gonzalez and many others, incredibly enriching his operatic repertoire.

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In 2021 Sasha was awarded the 2nd Prize and Orchestra Prize at the Arturo Toscanini Competition in Parma. He is laureate at several international competitions, such as the S. Richter International Piano Competition and HSBC Académie d’Aix-en-Provence in 2018.

Since 2018 Sasha Yankevych has been working at the Royal Stockholm Opera, serving as assistant and cover conductor on Szymanowski’s Król Roger, Puccini’s La bohème and Verdi’s La traviata. His operatic repertoire is very wide and features titles from Mozart to Bizet, from Verdi, Puccini and Rossini to Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.

His recent symphonic debut with the Kungliga Hofvkapellet Stockholm at the Open-air summer concert has been highly praised by critics and audience alike.

Sasha has conducted concerts throughout Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Ukraine, Russia, Estonia, Austria, Germany and Czech Republic. Recently he has conducted Youth Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg and Soloists of the Mariinsky Theater, Musikkolegium Winterthur, Toscanini Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Bordeaux in a gala with Bernjamin Bernheim for Deutsche Grammophon CD release (highly praised by critics), Gävle Symfoniorkester, Nörrköping Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Swedish Orchestra.

Recently, Sasha served as Assistant Conductor at the Verbier Festival working alongside Gianandrea Noseda, Klaus Makela, Reinhard Goebel – exploring the 18^th century historical practice, Martin Frost, and Yuja Wang.

2022/23 season highlights include his debut at the Hamburg Staatsoper (Fledermaus), the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Opera de St. Etienne, the Luglio Musicale Trapanese (Elisir d’Amore), the Teatro Municipale di Piacenza on the New Year’s concert, the MITO Festival in Milano, the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in concerts in Parma and Bologna, and the Zielona-Gora Philharmonic Orchestra, in Poland.

Sasha is currently completing a Master Diploma of Conducting at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and is being mentored by Alan Gilbert at the Royal Swedish Opera House in Stockholm.

Reviews

“At the helm of the Orchester National de Bordeaux, a young 28-year-old conductor of Ukrainian origin, Oleksandr Yankevych is making his conducting debut in France. …He reveals an ardent and fiery temperament, which he balances with sensitivity and musicality… [He] should be followed very closely over the next few years.”

(Original text: “À la tête de l’Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, un tout jeune chef d’origine ukrainienne de 28 ans, Oleksandr Yankevych effectue ses débuts de direction en France. (…) il révèle un tempérament ardent et plein de flammes, qu’il pondère avec sensibilité et musicalité (…) il convient de suivre très attentivement ces prochaines années.”)

José Pon

Olyrix

“The evening begins with the unmissable Overture of La Forza del destino, which the young Ukrainian conductor Oleksandr Yankevych (a third name to remember!) Delivers with an unusual breath, at the helm of the Orchestre national de Bordeaux, whose great quality of performance will not falter throughout the evening.”

(Original text: “La soirée débute avec l’incontournable Ouverture de La Forza del destino, que le jeune chef ukrainien Oleksandr Yankevych (un troisième nom à retenir!) délivre avec un souffle peu commun, à la tête d’un Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine dont la grande qualité d’exécution ne se démentira pas tout au long de la soirée.”)

Emmanuel Andrieu

Opera Online