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Gergiev Takes New Job As Dean at University

By Galina Stolyarova

The St. Petersburg Times

Valery Gergiev, the award-winning artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater, has accepted a proposal from the St. Petersburg State University to become dean of its newly created arts faculty.

Earlier this month, the university’s academic council voted to divide the school’s philology and arts faculty into two separate faculties. Gergiev was offered the dean’s position at the arts faculty, while Lyudmila Verbitskaya, the former rector of the university and its current president, was invited to head the philology faculty.

Critics say Gergiev will struggle to fulfill any commitments to the university in view of the Mariinsky’s time-consuming schedule and extensive touring, not to mention Gergiev’s own engagements with other orchestras.

Gergiev holds the post of principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. He is also a regular guest conductor with a number of other ensembles, including the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

Under Gergiev’s leadership, the Mariinsky gives around 600 performances a year, both at home and abroad, with the maestro himself conducting almost 300 concerts and shows.

Gergiev said through his press service that he had accepted the proposal from the university as he was convinced that “one of the top priorities of our era is to create new possibilites for students to get closer to the wonderful world of art.”

At the Mariinsky, the maestro traditionally devotes special attention to programs targeting children and young people. Gergiev has revived the practices of season tickets — at discounted prices — for these groups, and of staging free concerts for students.

“It is essential to create optimal conditions for the fundamental study of culture in all its complexity, with its modern trends and centuries-old traditions,” Gergiev said.

Sergei Bogdanov, the current dean of the philology faculty of St. Petersburg State University, said he believed Gergiev is an ideal candidate for the job.

“Gergiev’s intellectual and artistic potential is enormous, and it would be excellent news for us to have him,” Bogdanov told reporters on Tuesday, prior to the appointment. “He would be the perfect asset.”

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