CONDUCTOR
Mark Kadin’s performances are described as "an enchanting dialogue between the mind and emotions" (Kultura.bg), "musical triumph" (BNR News), "like a personal revelation, with a sufficiently restrained emotional discipline which produced an even more engaging awareness” (Decrescendo.net). As a conductor of deep expertise and refined musicality, his passion and dedication to the work inspire musicians and audience.
With a long and distinguished career in Eastern Europe, Mark Kadin was Chief Conductor of the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra until 2023, the country’s leading ensemble, and significantly raised the caliber of the orchestra. He was also Music Director of the Krasnoyarsk State Symphony Orchestra (2004-2014), Principal Guest Conductor of the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra (1994-2004) and the Lithuanian National Musical Theatre in Klaipeda (2015-2017), Resident Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (1997-2004) and the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra (1999-2003). In August 2023 he was appointed Music Director of the Querétaro Philharmonic Orchestra, an orchestra with great tradition in Mexico now in its 32nd season.
Mark completed his transformative 20-year tenure cooperation with BNR Symphony, where he solidified the orchestra’s status as one of the nation’s most enduring and innovative, and reinvigorated its Bulgarian presence through regular touring programs. As Chief Conductor of the BNR Symphony Orchestra (2017-2023), Mark led the orchestra on its first international tour in 10 years at the World Orchestra Series in South Korea. He released more than 150 recordings, including music by Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Reger, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Shostakovich, Denisov, Schnittke, works by composers of the Russian and Bulgarian Avant Garde, created 'Classical Question', the first Bulgarian podcast about classical music, his concerts were broadcast on Deutschlandradio, Swedish and Danish Radio, Portuguese National and Spanish National Radio, Musiq 3 (Belgium) and BBC 3.
The first and only international artist to receive the Great Award of the Bulgarian National Radio for creative contribution to the development of the BNR Symphony, Mark has also been honored with the National Award Crystal Lyra for achievements in the Bulgarian performing art.
His guest engagements include the Filharmonia Artur Rubinstein and Polish Wieniawski Philharmonic, Slovak Radio Symphony, Pilsen Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, Russian Philharmonic and Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Sofia Philharmonic, Sweden’s Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic, Israel Sinfonietta, Orchestra Sinfonica Città di Roma, Macedonian Philharmonic, Podlaska Filharmonia in Bialystok, Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, Novosibirsk Philharmonic, Omsk State Symphony Orchestra, Brasov, Timișoara and Transylvania State Philharmonic in Romania, Queensland Symphony in Australia, Christchurch Symphony in New Zealand, National Symphony Orchestras of Costa Rica and Philippines, Youth Symphony Orchestra and Bellas Artes Chamber Orchestra in Mexico, Parana Symphony in Brazil, Daejeon and Gyeonggi Philharmonic in Korea, Vietnam National Symphony, Shenzhen Symphony and Xiamen Philharmonic in China and many others. He has led all of the top orchestras in Turkey, including Presidential Symphony Orchestra and Istanbul Symphony Orchestra. Mark also led the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra on European tours to the Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany including concerts at the Kölner Philharmonie, Tonhalle Düsseldorf and the Munich Herkulessaal.
He has worked with top artists such as Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Kristof Barati, Simon Trpčeski, Alexander Rudin, Mikhail Pletnev, Dmitry Khvorostovsky, Sumi Jo, Hibla Gerzmava, Alexander Knyazev, Nikolay Lugansky, Alena Baeva, Konstantin Emelyanov, Lucas Geniushas, Rafael Aguirre, Andrey Gugnin, Ilya Gringolts, Johan Dalene, Andrei Ioniță and many others.
While rejoicing in his various guest appearances, Mark Kadin’s work for the orchestra he is in charge of, always remains at the centre of his commitment. His ideas, energy and endeavors to expand the audience is a trait that musicians and colleagues appreciate.
Mark enjoys a distinctive profile as an artist, renowned for his creativity and innovation in programming. He often looks beyond the mainstream and "likes to do this type of conceptual, thematic, genre-summarizing concerts, with the aim of intriguing the audience and the orchestra in different ways” (Kweekly.bg).
Mark has been praised for his "poetic beauty, captivating rhythmic alternations, structured and clear approach to form and elegant dynamics" (Decrescendo.net), “inspirational and flawless balance” and "confident feeling of effects” (Deutschlandfunk Kultur).
Alongside the core repertoire (including Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Rimski-Korsakov, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Sibelius, De Falla, Mahler, Bartok, Stravinsky, Bernstein) he also has a strong affinity to rarely heard music by Silvestrov, Stenhammar, Kurpinsky, Walton, Adams, Glass, Kancheli, Schnittke, maintaining a close relationship with new music having conducted more than 200 works written after 1970.
As Music Director of the Krasnoyarsk Symphony Orchestra, Mark was responsible for the success and growth of the orchestra. In addition to conducting 40 symphonic programs every season, he established summer academy for young musicians from various cities of the Siberian region and a groundbreaking Summer Open Air Festival in Krasnoyarsk which were attended by tens of thousands of spectators. He led the orchestra on three Asian tours to China and South Korea with concerts in prestigious concert halls including the Seoul Arts Center. He has been recognized with a string of awards for his contributions to cultural life of Krasnoyarsk Region, that including the Awards of the Mayor of Krasnoyarsk City, the Governor and the Minister of Culture of Krasnoyarsk Region.
Mark was born in Ukraine and started his musical life in Kharkiv. He studied conducting at the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow 1987-1993. While still a student he began his conducting career in 1990 in the Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music and the Youth State Symphony Orchestra “Young Russia”. As Assistant conductor he worked with Mstislav Rostropovich, Kent Nagano, Valery Gergiev, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Evgeny Svetlanov, Alexander Lazarev and Paavo Berglund.