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 Academic symphony orchestra of Moscow Philharmonia, the Tchaikovsky Symphony and Russian National orchestras; worked with such foreign companies as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the 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’s toured in the countries of Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Slovenia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania) and Latin America, in South Korea, Japan and the USA. From 2018 till January 2024 Nikolay Alexeev was the Principal Conductor of the Ulsan Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea) – 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. The conductor regularly introduces the audience to rarely performed and new works. Under his baton, the following pieces were performed for the first time: Tishchenko’s Second and Fifth Dante Symphonies, Slonimsky’s Thirteenth Symphony, Korolev’s Figure of Speech and The Heretic, Korchmar’s Tsar’s Chants, and Voronov’s Symphony (dedicated to the Distinguished Orchestra of Russia and Nikolay Alexeev). Russian premieres were given of Borisova Ollas’ First Symphony The Triumph of Heaven and the fantasy Wunderbare Leiden, as well as Varenberg’s fantasy for piano and orchestra Romeo and Juliet, based on Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1. St. Petersburg premieres included Shchedrin’s Concerto cantabile and Paganini’s Fifth Violin Concerto. Last season, Tishchenko’s symphonic poem Francesca da Rimini was performed, along with Hindemith’s works: Six Choruses on Rilke’s Poems and the cantata Apparebit repentina dies.

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 traditionally open and close the Philharmonia’ season. The program plans for the 2026/2027 concert season include Rossini’s overture to the opera William Tell, Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto (soloist – B. Berezovsky), and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 – these will be performed at the Philharmonic’s season opening. The subscription series will feature Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1 and the poem The Bells, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 and Mass in C Major, Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto (soloist – K. Baráti), Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto (soloist – I. Papoyan), and Styx by G. Kancheli at the season closing. The Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Symphony Choir will take part in three of the programs.

Under the baton of Nikolay Alexeev, the opening and closing concerts of the XXVI “Arts Square” International Winter Festival will be held. The opening program features Schumann’s Piano Concerto (soloist – D. Matsuev) and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2. The closing program includes Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 and Brahms’s First Piano Concerto (soloist – N. Lugansky).

The 2026/2027 season includes tour performances with the Distinguished Orchestra of Russia: in Japan (October 2026), China (December 2026 – January 2027), Novosibirsk and Moscow (October and November 2026).