People's Artist of Russia, Chief Conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonia Nikolay Alexeev graduated from the Leningrad Choral College named after Mikhail Glinka and the Leningrad Conservatory as a choral conductor (class of A. Mikhaylov), opera and symphony conductor (class of A. Jansons), and had his traineeship at the Kirov (Mariinsky) Opera under the direction of Yuri Temirkanov.

Winner of the Herbert von Karajan Foundation’s International Competition (West Berlin, 1982), V.Talich Competition (Prague, 1985) and Min-On (Tokyo, 1985), the musician’s life is full of artistic events. He led the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra; performed with the Moscow Philharmonic orchestra, the Tchaikovsky Symphony and Russian National orchestras; worked with such foreign companies as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam, Dresden, Stuttgart, and Copenhagen Philharmonic orchestras, the Berlin and Baltimore symphony orchestras, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and the New Japan Philharmonic.

In 2001–2010 Nikolay Alexeev led the Pribaltic’s oldest Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (in 2006 he was awarded the 3rd degree Estonian order of the White star for his work with the orchestra, and in 2010 he received the Estonian Republic’s prize in the sphere of culture).

The conductor tours in countries of Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Slovenia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania) and Latin America, in South Korea, Japan and USA. From 2018 till January 2024 Nikolay Alexeev was the Principal Conductor of the Ulsan Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea) – being the first foreign conductor in the history of the orchestra to lead it.

Since 2000, Nikolay Alexeev has been the conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2022 he took over the position of the orchestra’s Chief Conductor. Since 2024 – the Chief Conductor of the Philharmonia. Nikolay Alexeev and the orchestra performed all of the Brahms' symphonies and Ein Deutsches Requiem, a number of works by Stravinsky and Prokofiev, including a rarely performed Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, Mahler's Eighth Symphony, called Symphony of a Thousand, Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder and Messiaen’s Turangalila, Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler, Janacek’s Taras Bulba and Glagolitic Mass. Maestro regularly introduces new works to the public. He conducted a number of premiere performances: Tishchenko’s Second and Fifth Dante Symphonies, Slonimsky’s Thirteenth Symphony, Korolev’s Figure of Speech and Heretic, Korchmar’s Tsar's Chants; Russian premieres of Borisova-Ollas’ First Symphony The Triumph of Heaven and Wunderbare Leiden, Varenbergh’s Romeo and Juliet fantasies for piano and orchestra, inspired by Rachmaninov’s Symphony ¹ 1, St Petersburg premieres of Shchedrin's Concerto Cantabile and Paganini’s Fifth violin concerto.

In 2017, the conductor was awarded the Prize of the St Petersburg Government for the concert programs of 2016. In February 2022, by the President’s decree Nikolay Alexeev was awarded the Order of Friendship for his great contribution to the cultural and artistic development of the country and for the long years of fruitful activity.

The conductor's performances opened and closed the last four seasons, two of which were dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Philharmonic. On August 9, 2022, he led the united Philharmonic symphony orchestra conducting Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony as part of the historical and musical project "Score of Memory" dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the siege performance of the symphony. In December 2023 and 2024, concerts under Nikolay Alexeev’s direction were opening the International Winter Festival "Arts Square ". Memorable events of the past season were a concert of works by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev with D. Matsuev, a performance of piano concertos by Beethoven and Prokofiev with N. Lugansky and I. Papoyan, Mahler's First Symphony, Prokofiev's Sixth, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, a closing concert of the Music Collection Festival and the Philharmonic season with Brahms' Third Symphony and Dvorak's Cello concerto (soloist A. Ramm).

Under the direction of N. Alexeev the Philharmonic’s 2024/2025 season poster features the opening and closing concerts, the XXIV Arts Square Festival, and the following works are performed – the Sixth and Eighth Symphonies, and First Cello Concerto by Shostakovich', the Second Symphony and both Piano Concertos by Brahms, Third Symphony and “Francesca da Rimini” by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven's Third Symphony, musical excerpts from opera “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh” by Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev's Second and Third Piano Concertos, Ravel’s Concerto in D Major for the Left Hand, Schumann's Piano Concerto. The concerts feature soloists I. Papoyan, N. Lugansky, D. Matsuev, B. Berezovsky, E. Virsaladze, E. Leonskaja. Of considerable interest was the world premiere of Voronov's Symphony (dedicated to the Distinguished Orchestra of Russia), the performance of Tishchenko's Dante-Symphony No. 5 "Paradise" (to the composer’s 85th anniversary), Honegger's Symphony No.  3 "Symphonie Liturgique", Taneyev's "St. John of Damascus" Cantata and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms (in the program for 110th anniversary of A.V. Mikhailov’s birth).

Last season, under the Nikolay Alexeev’s leadership the Distinguished Orchestra of Russia toured in Sochi, Nalchik, Voronezh, Krasnoyarsk, as well as in China. The conductor's touring schedule for the 2024/2025 season included performances with the Distinguished Orchestra in Sochi, Nalchik (August 2024), Yerevan (September 2024), Moscow (November 2024).

The conductor actively cooperates with the Academic Symphony Orchestra pf the Philharmonia. Last season, Nikolay Alexeev opened the orchestra season, and pianist F. Kopachevsky performed in the ensemble with the conductor at the opening concert. The poster of the current season includes a concert of works by Debussy, Prokofiev and Mussorgsky, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of A.S. Dmitriev.

February 2025