Defining limitless

Whether conducting the English National Opera, championing refugee musicians or supporting young composers, Russian-American Lidiya Yankovskaya is mindful of the profound connections to her heritage, cultural identity and artistic conscience

Jessica Duchen

Few musicians can claim to have conducted more than 40 world premieres by the age of 38. Step forward Lidiya Yankovskaya, the outgoing music director of Chicago Opera Theater and named Chicagoan of the Year for 2020, when the Chicago Tribune praised her as ‘the very model of how to survive adversity, and also how to thrive in it’. In her seven years in post, despite the onslaught of disruptive world events – maybe even because of them – she has spearheaded initiatives that variously cultivate new opera makers, female and diverse conductors and composers, and a new generation of artistic leaders. She made her London debut in 2023, conducting Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs in a rare staging at English National Opera; earlier this year she returned for two…

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Opera Now (Digital) - 1 Issue, Summer 2024

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