YAROSLAV SHEMET

Yaroslav Shemet is one of the fast-rising conductors of the young generation who have emerged in Europe in recent years. Shemet caught wider attention in 2021 when he became the youngest music director of a philharmonic orchestra ever in Poland at the age of 25. Renowned for his orchestra-building qualities, excellent rapport with the musicians and insightful interpretations, at 28, Yaroslav Shemet holds the positions of Artistic Director with the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice and General Music Director of the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk.

Born in Ukraine, Yaroslav Shemet began his music education at the age of three studying voice, piano and clarinet. He then continued his studies at the conducting class for special talent at the Kharkiv Conservatory. By the age of 13 Shemet had already worked as orchestral conductor touring with orchestras in Europe and Asia. He later went on to further his conducting training at the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań and the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. During academic years Shemet founded the Musique Moderne Orchestra, dedicated to contemporary music. He was also co-founder and artistic director of the Polish Symphony Orchestra which gathered the best musicians in Poland. In the 2018/2019 season Yaroslav Shemet worked as assistant conductor to Oksana Lyniv with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, and he collaborated as guest conductor with the Lviv Opera and Odesa Opera where he led performances of Mozart’s La finta giardinera. During the 2020/2021 season Shemet was chief conductor of the Lviv International Symphony Orchestra, and from 2020 to 2022 he served as first guest conductor of the Neue Philharmonie in Hamburg.

Yaroslav Shemet’s past engagements include concerts with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Sinfonia Varsovia and Sinfonia Iuventus, and appearances at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Shanghai Grand Theatre, Konserthuset Stockholm, Lviv National Philharmonic Hall as well as at the festivals in Bayreuth, Munich and Hong Kong. A passionate advocate for Ukrainian music, Shemet frequently conducts works by Ukrainian composers with NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, Baltic State Philharmonic and Poznań Philharmonic orchestras among others. Highlights of his collaborations include partnerships with esteemed soloists such as Sonya Yoncheva, Tomasz Konieczny and Roman Simović.

In 2018 Yaroslav Shemet made his debut at the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk conducting Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles. Five years later, as the newly appointed General Music Director of the Baltic Opera, he has been leading new productions of Verdi’s Rigoletto, Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito as well as performances of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Honegger’s Judith, and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. In 2024 Yaroslav Shemet made his successful debut at the Polish National Opera conducting a new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. His future engagements include performances of new productions of Szymanowski’s Krȯl Roger, Bizet’s Carmen and Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at the Baltic Opera, final instalments of Mahler’s symphony cycle with the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra and a debut with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Warsaw Autumn Festival.

“The energy that this young conductor passes on to his orchestra is incredible!”
Sebastian Koik, "Klassik Begeister"

“Shemet performed at the filled-up-to-capacity Elbphilharmonie exhibiting his youthful and untamed temperament. He lives on music and breaths it – by conducting he presented all his skills.”
Marion Nevoigt, "Das Opernmagazine"

“The orchestra, which plays well and in time […], gains a deep sound under the baton of Yaroslav Shemet who conducts almost in an organic way.”
Łukasz Rudziński, trojmiasto.pl

“While interpreting the old Haydn’s piece, Shemet and his musicians breathed a new life into it. As if one listened to it for the first time – it was vigorous, fresh, delicate and balanced (…).”
Sebastian Koik, "Klassik Begeister"