Conductor – Artistic Director of the Silesian Philharmonic
Yaroslav Shemet is a conductor recognised for his orchestra-building leadership and insightful, architecturally expressive interpretations. With extensive experience across symphonic and operatic repertoire, he serves as the Artistic Director of the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice and the General Music Director of the Baltic State Opera in Gdańsk, making him the youngest director in the history of both institutions.
From 2020 to 2022, he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Neue Philharmonie Hamburg, and in the 2020/2021 season he held the position of Chief Conductor of the INSO-Lviv Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic in Lviv. In the 2023/2024 season, he received nominations for several prestigious awards, including the International Opera Awards (Rising Star category), the Polityka Passports and the Fryderyk Award.
Shemet commands an exceptionally broad symphonic repertoire, encompassing the core Austro-German tradition as well as Central and Eastern European music and contemporary works. Before the age of thirty, he conducted complete symphonic cycles of Mahler, Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms, with a particular artistic focus on the music of Richard Strauss and Anton Bruckner. Alongside this, he maintains a deep and sustained engagement with the works of Karol Szymanowski, Antonín Dvořák, Witold Lutosławski, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, and other composers of the Central and Eastern European tradition.
He began his conducting career at the age of 13, subsequently developing an international career across Europe and Asia. He has led renowned ensembles including the Orchestra of the National Theatre in Prague, Staatstheater Braunschweig, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia and the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, among others. His performances have taken place in major international venues such as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konserthuset Stockholm, the Shanghai Grand Theatre and the Harbin Opera House, as well as at festivals in Bayreuth, Munich and Hong Kong. He has collaborated with distinguished soloists including Sonya Yoncheva, Tomasz Konieczny and Roman Simović.
„Shemet performed at the filled-up-to-capacity Elbphilharmonie exhibiting his youthful and untamed temperament. He lives on music and breaths it – by conducting he presented all his skills.”
Marion Nevoigt, „Das Opernmagazine”
„The energy that this young conductor passes on to his orchestra is incredible!”
Sebastian Koik, „Klassik Begeister”
„The orchestra, which plays well and in time […], gains a deep sound under the baton of Yaroslav Shemet who conducts almost in an organic way.”
Łukasz Rudziński, trojmiasto.pl
„While interpreting the old Haydn’s piece, Shemet and his musicians breathed a new life into it. As if one listened to it for the first time – it was vigorous, fresh, delicate and balanced (…).”
Sebastian Koik, „Klassik Begeister”
