Maxim Emelyanychev was born in 1988 into a family of musicians. He received his music education in his home city of Nizhny Novgorod (conducting and piano) and in Gennady Rozhdestvensky’s conducting class at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. His conducting debut, at the age of twelve, was followed by invitations from several baroque and symphonic orchestras in Russia. Besides conducting, Emelyanychev is also a noted pianist, harpsichordist, organist and cornettist.
In 2019, Emelyanychev started his tenure as principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He is also the principal conductor of the historically informed orchestra Il Pomo d’Oro, with which he made several international tours and records all of Mozart’s symphonies, and will be principal guest conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra with effect from the 2025-26 season.
Other engagements included the Berliner Philharmoniker, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and orchestras in Tokyo, Osaka, Seattle en Toronto. Since his Concertgebouw Orchestra debut in October 2021, Emelyanychev returned in 2023, 2024, and most recently in October 2025 when he conducted works by Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Wennäkoski.
He performed Handel operas with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at major international opera institutions, conducting Rinaldo at the Glyndebourne Festival and Agrippina at the Royal Opera House, for the recording of which he received a Gramophone Award. He received an International Opera Award in the Newcomer category in 2019 and the prestigious Herbert von Karajan Award in 2025. In the 2025-26 season, Emelyanychev is Spotlight Artist at The Concertgebouw.