Maxim Emelyanychev is a conductor, pianist, harpsichordist and organist, and occasionally plays the cornetto. He is chief conductor of the early music ensemble il Pomo d'Oro and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Since his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in October 2021, he has been reinvited on an annual basis.
Maxim Emelyanychev studied piano and conducting in his hometown of Nizhny Novgorod, continued his studies in Gennady Rozhdestvensky's conducting class at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, and made his conducting debut at the age of twelve.
Since 2016, the multi-talented musician has been leading il Pomo d'Oro, with which he is recording Mozart's complete symphonies. As chief conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra since 2019, he has appeared several times at the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festival. In addition, he is permanent guest conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra starting in the 2025-26 season.
He has guest conducted the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and orchestras in Tokyo, Osaka, Seattle and Toronto, among others. His first appearance with the Concertgebouw Orchestra was in October 2021. The most recent collaboration, in October 2025, featured works by Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Wennäkoski.
Maxim Emelyanychev conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Handel productions at Glyndebourne and Covent Garden. He received a Gramophone Award for his recording of Handel's Agrippina with Joyce DiDonato, and his Mozart recordings on fortepiano were awarded a Choc de Classica in 2018. The following year, the versatile musician received an International Opera Award and in 2025 he was awarded the Herbert von Karajan Prize. Maxim Emelyanychev is a Spotlight artist in the Concertgebouw's own programming for the 2025/2026 season.