Russian conductor Michail Jurowski died on March 19, 2022, in a Berlin hospital of organ failure at the age of 76.

Born in Moscow on Dec. 25, 1945, he was the son of composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski and Shostakovitch was a friend of the family. As a child, he played four-hand piano music and went on to study at the Moscow Conservatory with Leo Ginzburg and Alexey Kandinsky.

Following his studies, he worked at the Stanislavski Theatre and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. He became the assistant to Gennady Rozhdestvensky at the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra and in 1978 became a regular guest conductor at the Komische Oper Berlin.

In 1989, he became a permanent position at the Staatsoper Dresden. He and his family left Russia for Germany in 1990  because in the Soviet Union his career was impeded by antisemitism.

He became a Music Director and Principal Conductor of Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie and stayed with the orchestra from 1992 to 1998. He also conducted in Malmö, Norrköping, Odense, and Copenhagen, and in Argentina with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic in the Teatro Colón.

At the Leipzig Opera, he became the Principal Conductor from 1999 to 2001 and later became a regular with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra as well as principal director of the WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln.

He left several recordings including the premiere recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s “The Gamblers” and made world first recordings of a series of works by Berthold Goldschmidt, Aram Khachaturian, Franz Lehár, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Serge Prokofiev, Ture Rangström, Ottorino Respighi and Franz von Suppè, and also of Shostakvich’s film scores.

Jurowski is survived by three children, Vladimir, a conductor, Maria, a music teacher, and Dmitri, also a conductor.

Jurowski was represented at IMG Artists by Naomi Ives and Kaija Lappi. Ives’ wrote “It is with great sadness that I write about the loss of Michail. He was a true pleasure to work with and I feel a deep sense of pride that I was able to work so closely with him.  Not only did he conduct some of the greatest performances I have had the fortune of hearing, he was a joy to spend time with.  While music has lost a truly great conductor, the world has lost a wonderful man full of compassion, wisdom and wit. I will miss him greatly and my love goes to all his family who have lost an amazing husband, father and grandfather.”

Meanwhile, Lappi said, “I am incredibly saddened by this news. Michail Jurowski was a phenomenal artist, always generous in sharing both his musical history and expertise and his wonderful sense of humor. He will be missed by colleagues all over the world.”