"Riga Classic Strings" • International Cello and Violin Competition and Festival

Conductors

Michalis Economou Conductor

Michalis Economou is one of the most promising conductors and composers of his generation, a significant figure of the Greek musical scene. He is former Music Director of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the Orchestra of Colours, Chief Conductor of the Athens Municipality Symphony Orchestra, and has just signed a contract for the annual Placido Domingo’s Operalia Competition winner’s gala in various countries. He is also the Chairman of the Music Department at Athens Technical University since 2004. As a composer, he is winner of eleven national and international competitions, including the ALEA III International Composition Competition and the Dimitris Mitropoulos International Composition Competition. His works have been performed all over the world and he has been commissioned to compose music for Carnegie Hall and among other venues for the Athens Megaron Hall.

Andris Poga Conductor

Andris Poga has been the artistic director and principal conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO) since November 2013. In 2010, Poga won the 2nd Evgeny Svetlanov Conducting Competition in Montpellier (France), and this victory significantly changed the young conductor’s life. He was an assistant to Paavo Järvi, the principal conductor of the Orchestre de Paris, from 2011 to 2014, and from 2012 to 2014 he worked as an assistant conductor at the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Sergey Smbatyan Conductor

Armenian conductor Sergey Smbatyan is the founder, artistic director and principal conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra (ASSO), previously being the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia. For his achievements in culture the conductor was awarded with the Title “Honored Artist of the Republic of Armenia” by the RA President Serzh Sargsyan in 2016 and a Gold Medal by Yerevan Mayor in 2017.