On August 30, 2022, Russian conductor Alexander Skulsky died at the age of 80.

Skulsky graduated from the Nizhny-Novgorod State Glinka Conservatoire in 1965 and in 1971 from the Leningrad State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire.

He became the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Nizhny Novgorod State Mstislav Rostropovich Philharmonic in 1967 and held the position since then. He conducted over 2,000 programs with the orchestra, performing music by Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Mahler, Bruckner, Hindemith, and Honegger, among others.

The conductor also appeared with Russia’s leading symphony orchestras and major choral ensembles and international musicians. He toured Russia, the Baltic States, and also to France, Austria, Spain, the USA, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.

In 1976, he began working with the Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatoire where he headed the faculty of opera and symphony conducting. He held masterclasses and taught such esteemed conductors as Renat Zhiganshin, Yevgeny Kirillov, and Yevgeny Kleiner among others.

In 1990, he was named an Honored Artist of Russia and in 2004 he was named the People’s Artist of Russia. In 2014, he was named an Honorary Citizen of Nizhny Novgorod.

In a statement, the Deputy Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Oleg Berkovich said, “It is with great regret that I inform you that Alexander Mikhailovich Skulsky passed away today. A great man, one of the pillars of Nizhny Novgorod and Russian culture, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation. He devoted more than 50 years to the Philharmonic, and for the last 20 years he has been the chief conductor and artistic director of a symphony orchestra.”