Since 1995, conductor ALEXANDER VEDERNIKOV has been Artistic Director and Music Director of the Russian Philharmonia. He has conducted the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Russian State Symphony, and the Orchestra of Russia's Bolshoi Theater, where he recently assumed the position of Artistic Director. Vedernikov studied at the Moscow Conservatory and in 1988 joined the Moscow Stanislavsky Theater, performing Le nozze di Figaro, La traviata, Boris Godunov, Eugene Onegin, and Cavalleria rusticana. He has also appeared with international opera companies and orchestras including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Vedernikov makes his Bowl debut this summer.