Eugene Sirotkine

Eugene Sirotkine’s selfless committment and insatiable desire to make music create an electric connection between him, his performers, and his listeners. At the same time, an almost psychic ability to channel a composer’s intentions makes him riveting, both to work with and listen to.

 

The San Francisco Chronicle, on the occasion of Mr. Sirotkine’s Carmen, noted his “passionate approach to music-making spoke to members of the audience and orchestra.” The Cape Times of South Africa wrote, “Sirotkine demonstrated empathy for the onstage singing, crafting an accompaniment that was pleasingly sensitive and well-balanced.”

 

A St. Petersburg-born conductor who debuted with the Latvian Philharmonic in St. Petersburg in 1989, Sirotkine was assistant conductor and chorus master with The New York Metropolitan Opera from 1999 until 2008. He is now in his 19th year as conductor and musical director of the Hudson Valley Singers. 

 

Over the past two decades Sirotkine has conducted orchestras and choruses worldwide, including The Hong Kong Philharmonic, Cuyo National University Symphony Orchestra of Argentina, The National Symphony Orchestra of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, The Cali Philharmonic of Colombia, and The Cape Philharmonic and Cape Town Opera of South Africa. He has conducted The Kennedy Center Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, Washington, and The New York Metamorphoses Orchestra, in collaboration with The Paul Taylor Dance Company, at City Center, New York. Mr. Sirotkine has conducted a considerable variety of choral works, ranging over the years from Bach passions and Handel oratorios to such lesser performed, but no less exciting, works as Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle and Honegger's La Danse Des Morts. The selection and execution of these works bespeak ecumenical taste, untiring curiosity, and superior ability.