International Conservatory Week is an annual traditional music festival, established by the St. Petersburg N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in 2001.

The festival is without equal in the music world and has presented more than 180 prestigious music schools from different countries and continents on the conservatory scene over the past 11 years. It has established itself as one of St. Petersburg’s most respected musical traditions and has taken its rightful place among the vibrant cultural life of the Northern Capital. This large-scale international forum discovers new names of young talented musicians, represents renowned professors, and introduces professionals and fans of music to traditions and contemporary achievements of higher institutions of music in Russia and all over the world. International Conservatory Week 2012 is devoted to the 150th anniversary of the Russia's oldest conservatory. Representatives of 17 higher music schools in Russia, Europe, Asia, USA and Brazil will come to congratulate and celebrate with the conservatory. The conservatory, in turn, will unfold a brilliant panorama of orchestral and choral ensembles, bands with different number of members, as well as soloists representing the famed Petersburg performing style to the esteemed international guests.

Special programs of the festival will be devoted to the Year of Germany in Russia 2012/13, and "American season" which takes place in our country.

The festival 2012 will carry on a tradition of awarding the Diploma of Honorary Professor of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. The guest of honor for the ceremony on 3 November at the St. Petersburg Conservatory Glazunov Hall will be Maestro Valery Gergiev, a distinguished graduate of Russia’s oldest conservatory, Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, Peoples Artist of Russia, Laureate of the State Prize and principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Among the other notable conductors performing during the festival, two more famous alumni of the St. Petersburg Conservatory will be featured: Vassily Sinaisky, principle conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, principle guest conductor of the Symphony Orchestra BBC (Great Britain) and principal conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra (2 November); and Semyon Bychkov, honorary guest conductor of the orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music (London) and is a regular guest conductor with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Teatro alla Scala Milan, Royal Opera House London, and Metropolitan Opera New York (10 November).

Six ensembles will participate in the orchestral marathon of the festival. These will include 3 orchestras of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, orchestras of the Moscow Conservatory and the Wichita State University (Kansas, USA), as well as the Orquesta Ciudad de Alcala, representing students and professors of several professional music schools in Spain.

The Grand Hall and Glazunov Hall of the St. Petersburg Conservatory as well as other halls of the Northern Capital will host the International Conservatory Week with 19 concert programs of different musical genres. A total of 500 musicians will take part in these programs, from talented young performers to People’s Artists of Russia, as well as eminent foreign guests. Among the participants are Hans-Peter and Volker Stenzl Piano Duo from Germany, Silver Garburg Piano Duo from Israel, and a special appearance by one of the most popular saxophone ensembles in Europe - ALLIAGE QUINTETT (Germany). Great interest of experts and music lovers will be given to traditional festival programs like Jazz on Teatralnaya Square with Anat Fort, a well-known jazz pianist from Israel, and World Premiere Evening, where the works of St. Petersburg composers based on themes of sketches written by famous satirists from Moscow and St. Petersburg will be performed for the first time under the title “What should be improved in the conservatory?”

In addition to a wide selection of concerts, Conservatory Week will offer to St. Petersburg professionals and music fans a great applied research section which includes: a documentary exhibition on the history of international creative relations of Russia’s oldest conservatory presented by the Scientific Music Library Foundation; and an art exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of the St. Petersburg Conservatory with contributions from famous St. Petersburg artists. As well there will be 17 opened master classes from renowned professors and opened rehearsals of the famous conductors.

As at the previous eleven festivals, the 2012 forum is focused primarily on the interests of young students, which is why the concert programs in the Conservatory and the applied research section are free of charge for all students of St. Petersburg universities.

The festival management hopes that this international forum will have a special appeal to the St. Petersburg audience, who have a wonderful historic tradition of music appreciation and for whom finely performed and conceptually interesting music has always been a joyous event. The halls and classrooms of the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 2 till 10 November will be waiting for experts and lovers of music to please them with the festive atmosphere and give them a bright new thrill.