How the World of Classical Music Has Responded to TÁR
RogerEbert
Chicago, IL
“I am glad that the film has sparked so much conversation about conducting,” said Yankovsaya, a rising star in classical music [and] music director of Chicago Opera Theater. “While it’s unfortunate that Tár is a negative character, I am heartened to know that now, when people think ‘conductor,’ the image in their minds might be of a woman.”
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Second Homes: Lidiya Yankovskaya speaks up for 'second' companies
Opera Magazine
London, UK
“It's a beautiful opportunity,” says Lidiya Yankovskaya. “A month of rehearsal, where the director, the singer and I get to think every day about every nuance of that emotional dramatic arc over the course of the piece. That is a luxury.” Speaking over Zoom during a rare day off between concerts in Detroit and Knoxville, the Russian-American conductor is palpably excited about her upcoming appearances at English National Opera.
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Lidiya Yankovskaya: music as a reflection of the world
WUOT
Knoxville, TN
Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya was in Knoxville recently to conduct Oliver Herbert in the Dvořák cello concerto, also the Rosenkavalier suite and a new work by Missy Mazzoli. Charlotte Wilson catches up with her to discuss conducting and the future of music.
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After Tár: women conductors to watch in London
Culture Whisper
London, UK
Born in St. Petersburg, Lidiya Yankovskaya grew up in the United States, where she is a big draw, appearing with a number of prestigious orchestras. At ENO she conducts Henryk Górecki's moving Symphony of Sorrowful Songs in a staged performance.
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Players 2023: Who Really Performs for Chicago Right Now in Opera
Newcity Stage
Chicago, IL
Because her work is consistently excellent, her tenure has revitalized the company. Yankovskaya is in high demand everywhere… Her mastery of symphonic repertoire is as formidable as her operatic conducting.
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Staging Górecki’s Sorrowful Songs
Bachtrack
London, UK
“Short phrases are much easier and clearer to conduct; in pieces like this, large gestures across time are key. It’s all one big phrase, and it relies on the conductor to carry that phrasing. When you have that many major chords in a row, how each one is voiced becomes crucial.”
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Global Assist
Symphony Magazine
New York, NY
"Refugees often don't talk about refugee status; they don't want it to define them," says Lidiya Yankovskaya, founder and conductor of the Refugee Orchestra Project, an ensemble of top-level musicians from around the globe. "They want to define their own lives for who they are."
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Orchestra project brings refugees together from across the world
The Today Show
New York, NY
Monday marks World Refugee Day, something that has added significance this year in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine. NBC’s Anne Thompson reports on the inspiring story of The Refugee Orchestra Project aiming to help them and others.
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The Takeaway: Refugee Orchestra Project
WNYC
New York, NY
Raised in Russia, with summers in Ukraine, Lidiya Yankovskaya’s family fled St. Petersburg in the post-Soviet Reconstruction era. She founded the Refugee Orchestra Project to raise awareness about the contributions refugees make.
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ListN Up
I Care if You Listen
Boston, MA
Music can foster dialogue – by telling stories, by transporting us into a different place, a different culture, a different sense of time, a different point in history…
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10 Woman Conductors You Should Know
WFMT
Chicago, IL
Resilience has become one of the defining characteristics of Yankovskaya’s musical approach…
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Queering the Classics
Edge
Cleveland, OH
A growing number of queer-inclusive interpretations of classic works have been filling up season calendars. These deliberately imaginative revivals perform a corrective function, reinstating queer people into cultural contexts where they were previously — and inaccurately — erased.
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Players 50 2022: The Music Makers
Newcity Stage
Chicago, IL
Opera is a collaborative and, at its best, a transformative art form. Chicago Opera Theater ushered in an exciting new artistic era by bringing Russian-American conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya to COT as music director.
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Opera director told she ‘couldn’t conduct with a newborn’ returns to podium three days after birth
Classic FM
London, UK
Lidiya Yankovskaya gave birth to her second child on 15 December, before returning to the podium three days later. Yankovskaya was told during her first pregnancy that “being a mother and being a conductor are incompatible”, and that she “couldn’t possibly conduct while caring for a newborn.”
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Conductor conducts opera, gives birth, conducts more opera
Good Morning America
New York, NY
It's still rare to see a woman conduct an opera — and rarer still to see a pregnant woman conducting an opera. That's what made Russian American conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya's December 2021 all the more eye-catching.
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Conductor gives birth and goes back to podium just days later
The Hill
Washington, D.C.
Lidiya Yankovskaya is an accomplished conductor, having conducted more than 40 world premieres, including 16 operas. She currently works as music director for the Chicago Opera Theater, and in December she welcomed her second child without missing a beat.
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Conductor orchestrates impressive encore
ABC News
New York, NY
American-Russian conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya preached about the inclusion of females in the orchestra after she returned to the stage just days after giving birth.
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Elgin Symphony brings German classics to the stage
Chicago Tribune
Chicago, IL
It’ll seem like a reunion of German composers from the Romantic era when the Elgin Symphony Orchestra takes stage for its next concert.
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Morning Cafe
Hawai’i Public Radio
Honolulu, HI
Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya stopped by HPR studios to talk about her upcoming performance with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra in their Starlight concert series from the Waikīkī Shell.
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Chicagoan of the Year: Yankovskaya championed opera before & amid pandemic
Chicago Tribune
Chicago, IL
In 2020, COT music director Lidiya Yankovskaya led the company in a fully staged world premiere before the pandemic and daring online performances amid the shutdown. In both settings, Yankovskaya and COT emerged as the very model of how to survive adversity, and also how to thrive in it.
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