Dmitrij Kitajenko is one of the great maestros of our time. For decades now he has conducted prestigious orchestras across Europe, America and Asia.

Born in Leningrad (now St Petersburg), Dmitrij Kitajenko studied at the famous Glinka School of Music and the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory before leaving to study with Leo Ginzburg in Moscow as well as Hans Swarowsky and Karl Österreicher in Vienna. In 1969 he won a prize at the first International Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition and at the age of twenty-nine he was appointed principal conductor of the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow. In 1976 he assumed the post of principal conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic. In 1990 Dmitrij Kitajenko came to the West, successively becoming principal conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as principal guest conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Since 2012 Dmitrij Kitajenko has also been principal guest conductor of the Berlin Konzerthausorchester. In September 2015 Dmitrij Kitajenko was named Conductor of Honor of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dmitrij Kitajenko and the Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra, of which he has been honorary conductor since 2009, have together recorded the complete symphonic works of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. These recordings have been awarded countless international prizes and are considered important benchmark recordings. Dmitri Kitajenko’s discography encompasses a total of more than 250 recordings, primarily with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. In summer 2015, he  released with the Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta, which was highly acclaimed in the international press.

In recognition of his life’s work and outstanding recordings, including the complete symphonic works of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Scriabin and Tchaikovsky, Dmitrij Kitajenko received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) in March 2015.