The Vienna Philharmonic announced this Thursday, during its New Year’s concert, the name of the conductor who will take charge of the 2027 New Year’s Concert. This announcement follows the custom of making public the maestro chosen to take charge of the famous performance the following year at the same concert. The name announced on this occasion is that of the Russian conductor Tugan Sokhiev (Vladikavkaz, 48 years old), who made his debut at the Teatro Real in Madrid 20 years ago, when he was a promising young man. This is the first time he has been invited to conduct the New Year’s Concert, although he has already conducted this large orchestra.
Tugan Sokhiev’s collaboration with this historic Viennese orchestra dates back to 2009 during an Asian tour in Seoul. The Russian baton has conducted the Viennese Philharmonic in Vienna itself in several subscription concerts as well as in other cities around the world. He conducts the Summer Night concert for the first time as well as the Johann Strauss birthday gala.
Tugan Sokhiev served as musical director and conductor of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow from 2014 until 2022, when he resigned in protest against the invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, he left the musical direction of the Toulousse Orchestra after being pressured by the media to take sides. “I was forced to choose between my beloved Russia and my beloved French musicians,” he explained at the time. “I have never supported and always will be against conflict of any kind.” Originally from the same Russian region as Valery Gergiev, Sokhiev was considered very close to the maestro who. However, he remained very close to the Putin regime.
Sokhiev has performed at the world’s leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Vienna State Opera. According to the Vienna Philharmonic, the Russian maestro, disciple of Ilya Musin at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, is particularly attached to the training of young musicians. He actively participated in the Vienna Philharmonic academies for young musicians. In 2016, he founded a conducting academy in Toulouse.
“Tugan Sokhiev has been a close musical and personal friend since 2009. Our first performances together quickly fostered a strong mutual trust and musical understanding, which has continued to deepen and develop since then, looking forward to our future plans and the upcoming New Year’s concert,” explained Vienna Philharmonic President Daniel Froschauer in the text accompanying the announcement.
The election of Sokhiev seems to be in line with the renewal and new bets undertaken in 2026 with the election of the 50-year-old Canadian Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who also has an important operatic CV as musical director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
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