A native of Minsk and a laureate of the international conductors’ competition, Igor Bukhvalov, is currently pursuing his conducting career in New York City. Over the years, he has been vigorously involved with the American Opera Theatre, where he quickly gained recognition as an excellent and keenly trained musician.
Igor Bukhvalov's in-depth knowledge of tradition and the established canons of music in addition to his unconventional interpretation of many well-known works have led him to create a variety of extraordinary performances with the New York Chamber Virtuosi, the Philharmonisches Kammerorchester Berlin,the American Opera Theatre, the Belarusian State Bolshoi Theater, the Belarusian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lithuanian State Symphonic Orchestra, the State Academic Choral Cappella of the Republic of Belarus, Cluj-Napoca Romanian Opera, Ohio State University Orchestra, the New Jersey State Opera, and many others.
Mr. Bukhvalov’s interests go beyond fine-tuning every one of his performances. One of his thriving inspirations is to attract young audiences - those whose upbringing was solely based on pop-culture and did not have exposure to classical music - to opera and symphony music. This has always been a contributing factor to Mr. Bukhvalov’s unforgettable experience he brings to his audiences – his resilience in preserving the highest standards of the art of music and his ability to generate fresh ideas and re-interpret classical music on new terms.
Attributing most of his impressive abilities as an artist, performer and director to his versatile educational background, Mr. Bukhvalov is a fine representative of the Russian school of conducting. His passion for music and conducting started to develop while attending the Belarusian Musical Lyceum in Minsk as a boy of only seven years of age. This renowned school with its long-established traditions in all aspects of musical education provided a sound classical training as well as unlimited opportunities to learn from the best, which in combination with hard work and an innate talent gave Igor the tools necessary to become a brilliant music maker ready for the challenges of the international music arena. Along with studying piano and choir conducting, he sang in the all-boy choir of the Belarusian Musical Lyceum. Throughout all eleven years at the Lyceum he was participating in various performances and tours with the choir, which provided him with an extensive training and a deep understanding of and fascination with the conductor's profession early on in his music career. This demanding schooling helped him win multiple awards in the years to come - Mr. Bukhvalov is a laureate of the International Church Music Competition and the International Conductor's competition in the city of Wroclaw, Poland.
Upon graduation from the Belarusian Musical Lyceum, Mr. Bukhvalov entered the world's famous Russian Academy of Music (former Institute Gnesinykh) in Moscow to study the choral conducting with professor Maria Afanas'evna Bondar'. After several years in Moscow, Igor continued studying choral conducting with professor Anna Pavlovna Zelenkova and orchestra conducting with professor Gennady Panteleimonovich Provatorov (The People's Artist of Russia) at the Belarusian Academy of Music in Minsk.
While still a student at the Belarusian Academy of Music in Minsk, Igor became a choir master of the Belarusian State Choir Capella. During the years of working with this famous choir, Mr. Bukhvalov had an opportunity to be involved in the production of a vast a capella as well as co-production of the oratorio and cantata repertoire with many fine conductors from all over the world assisting them in choral preparation. In addition, Igor has done an extensive touring with the Belarusian State Choir Capella throughout Russia and Europe
After graduation, Igor undertook a conducting position at the Bol'shoi Theater of Opera and Ballet of the Republic of Belarus in Minsk expanding his repertoire to include the première of "Katerina Izmailova" by Shostakovich along with a renewed version of Rigoletto, ballet "Rogneda" by Mdivanni, "Kamennyi Gost’" by Dargomuzskiy, "Evgeniy Onegin" by Tchaikovsky, and a stage performance of Verdi’s "Requiem" as well as several ballets and operas for younger audiences. Furthermore, for many yeas Igor has collaborated with the Belarusian National Philharmonic Orchestra, which he successfully led to produce many remarkable performances.
Constantly driven by the desire to learn and advance, Igor has mastered his skills under the guidance from internationally acclaimed conductors - Iliya Mysin, Piero Beluggi, Alexander Anissimov, Collin Metters, John Farrer, and Kenneth Kiesler. After moving to New York, Mr. Bukhvalov has completed the Post-graduate studies for opera and symphony orchestra conducting at The Juilliard School under professor Vincent La Selva and have started actively performing throughout the world with variety of orchestras and opera houses.