Maxim Rysanov
Mentor Viola
Grammy-nominated Ukrainian-British violist and conductor, and Principal Guest Conductor of I Musici de Montréal, Maxim Rysanov has an established reputation as one of the world’s most vibrant and charismatic musicians. Both as a conductor and a violist, he frequently visits prominent orchestras – often in programmes where he both plays and conducts.
As a soloist, he has performed with the Mariinsky Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Residentie Orkest the Hague, Seattle Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Moscow Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic, Turku Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, European Union Youth Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Brno Philharmonic and Real Orquesta Sinfónica Sevilla.
As a conductor, Maxim has appeared with the Svetlanov State Symphony Orchestra, the Milan Symphony Orchestra, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Tatarstan State Symphony Orchestra, Spanish Radio Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Dala Sinfonietta, London Mozart Players, Southbank Sinfonia, Riga Sinfonietta, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Kiev Soloists, etc.
A keen chamber musician, Maxim has partnered in chamber music projects with Maxim Vengerov, Janine Jansen, Mischa Maisky, Gidon Kremer, Nicola Benedetti, Vadim Repin, Augustin Dumay, Viktoria Mullova, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Sol Gabetta, Leif Ove Andsnes, Denis Matsuev, Alessio Bax, Michael Collins, Martin Fröst, Alice Coote, Freddy Kempf and Yeol Eum Son, Nikita Boriso-Glebsky and Dora Kokas, among others. He has toured Ireland with chamber music partners Nikita Boriso Glebsky and Dora Kokas.
His recordings have gained numerous award nominations including Gramophone Editor’s Choice, ECHO and ICMA. Maxim featured as both soloist and conductor on the debut recording of composer Dobrinka Tabakova (ECM) in 2013, which reached number 2 in the UK classical charts and was shortlisted for a Grammy Award. His album In Schubert’s company was selected as Gramophone Critic’s Choice of the Year. Also released to great critical acclaim, was the BIS recording Voices with Riga Sinfonietta featuring the music of Pēteris Vasks, on which Maxim conducts Vasks’ Symphony No. 1 and performs the viola concerto written for and dedicated to him. October 2024 saw the release of his latest disc on the Onyx label, a collection of Schumann viola works in which he is joined by Julian Bliss and Dasol Kim.
A past winner of Gramophone Young Artist of the Year Award and the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Award, Maxim is also a prize-winner at the Geneva, Lionel Tertis and Valentino Bucchi competitions. Maxim plays a 1780 Giuseppe Guadagnini viola known as ‘Il Soldato’ on private loan arranged by Premiere Performances Hong Kong.
