Kirill Karabits
Principal Conductor
“Karabits, a charmer, has that rare ability to be both fastidious and thrilling…This evening has made Karabits something of a star. More to the point, it confirms what a fine conductor he is.”
– Tim Ashley, The Guardian, August 2009
In making his BBC Proms debut with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in August 2009, Kirill Karabits effectively launched his four year tenure as Principal Conductor of the orchestra. The BBC selected their broadcast of Shostakovich’s Symphony No.11 as the cover CD of the September edition of BBC Music Magazine, and their next disc will be a recording of music by Rodion Shchedrin released by Naxos in 2010.
In much demand as a guest conductor, future engagements include return visits to the Philharmonia and London Philharmonic Orchestras. Next summer he will also conduct the Britten-Pears Orchestra as part of the Snape Proms at Aldeburgh. Other highlights include concerts with the SWR-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel and Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg. He will make his debut with Bamberger Symphoniker at the Kissinger Sommer Festival with Vadim Repin in June 2010.
Karabits made his North American debut with Houston Symphony in March 2009, followed by appearances in July 2009 with Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and at the Grant Park and Aspen Festivals. Future appearances in the United States include concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra, and the San Francisco and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras. He also returns to Japan in autumn 2010 to make his debut with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.
Equally established as an opera conductor, Karabits’ productions in the 2008/09 season included Un Ballo in Maschera with Opéra National du Rhin, a return to Opéra National de Lorraine to conduct Idomeneo, and a production of Pique Dame with Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. This season he will make his Opéra National de Lyon debut with Shostakovich's Mosvka Cheryomushki in December 2009, followed by a semi-staged performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri in May 2010. He will make his debut with English National Opera in autumn 2010. Previous operatic engagements have included debuts with Grand Théâtre Genève (Janacek’s The Adventures of Mr Broucek) and Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Eugene Onegin).
As part of his ongoing doctoral studies in Vienna, Kirill Karabits has done a considerable amount of research into hitherto unperformed or forgotten works that make up part of the recently rediscovered archive of Berliner Singakademie. This included his transcription of C.P.E. Bach's Johannes Passion, written in Hamburg in 1784 and previously considered lost. His research has also led to the modern premiere of Telemann's unknown (and probably earliest existing opera) Pastorelle en Musique, which he recorded for Capriccio.
Kirill Karabits studied conducting and composition at the Lysenko Music School in Kiev before continuing his studies at the National Tchaikovsky Music Academy in Kiev with Roman Kofman, and at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik under Uroš Lajovic. He has also held the positions of Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and Associate Conductor of both Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Budapest Festival Orchestra.
