“Chicago Opera Theater has appointed Lidiya Yankovskaya as its music director, effective immediately,” writes John von Rhein in Tuesday’s (6/20) Chicago Tribune (subscription required). “She will work with COT general director designate Douglas Clayton this summer in support of the company’s previously announced 2017-18 season before taking on regular conducting duties with the company as of 2018-19. The Russian-born conductor comes to Chicago with an extensive East Coast resume. She currently serves as artistic director of Boston’s Juventus New Music Ensemble, artistic director of the Boston New Music Festival and music director of Massachusetts’ Commonwealth Lyric Theater. She also has conducted the Boston Youth Symphony and prepared programs with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Yankovskaya was selected for the 2015 inaugural residency program of the Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors. She also has collaborated with American Lyric Theater and Beth Morrison Projects in developing new operas. A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, she immigrated to the U.S. at a young age and began conducting at 17. Now based in New York, she and her husband will set up permanent residence in Chicago next year.”
Posted June 20, 2017
