Ayrat Qaşayıf

Ayrat Kashaev (Russian: Айрат Кашаев; born November 23, 1984) is a Russian conductor.

Born in 1984 in Kazan, the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan (Russian Federation), Ayrat Kashaev began his musical training at the age of 4. In 2004, he graduated with honours in choral conducting from Kazan College of Music and entered the Kazan Conservatory. In 2008, he was invited to continue his education in Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he first studied choral conducting with Lev Kontorovitch (graduated in 2009, with honours) and then orchestra conducting with Gennady Rozhdestvensky (graduated in 2012 summa cum laude).

As a guest conductor, he has appeared with Moscow Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Youth Chamber Orchestra, Rakhmaninov Symphony Orchestra, New Music Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Operetta Theatre, Pavel Slobodkin Centre Chamber Orchestra, Tatarstan State Chamber Choir.

Since 2008, Ayrat Kashaev has been the Principal Conductor of Galina Vishnevskaya College Theatre, where he has led the productions of Stravinsky's Pulcinella, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker (performed in Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre), Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Martín y Soler's Una cosa rara, Agafonnikov's Anna Snegina, Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, Orff's Der Mond (Russian première on the stage of Pokrovsky Chamber Opera). In addition to opera and ballet productions, the orchestra led by Ayrat Kashaev gives regular performances at various venues both in Moscow and throughout Russia. In 2012, the orchestra played the season closing concert of Perm Regional Philharmonic.

In the season 2010/11, Ayrat Kashaev led the Open Stage Festival production of Donizetti's Il campanello at Helicon Opera, Moscow, and its revival in the season 2011/12. In April 2012, he conducted the first performance of this opera in the city of Kazan, with the New Music Chamber Orchestra and Tatarstan State Chamber Choir.

In the season 2011/12, Ayrat Kashaev continued his collaboration with Helicon Opera, Moscow, leading the revival of the company's production of Tchaikovsky's Eugeny Onegin. In the season 2012/13, he conducted Eugeny Onegin at the Tatar State Opera and Ballet Theatre, during 31st International Chaliapin Opera Festival. In February and March 2013, he continued his collaboration with the Tatar State Opera and Ballet Theatre, conducting Tchaikovsky's The Nutkracker and Gavrilin's Anyuta.

In 2011-2013, Ayrat Kashaev was the Artistic Director of Gnesin College of Music Choir. Under his leadership, the choir rapidly turned from merely a training body for young music students into a prize-winning ensemble, actively performing at most prestigious Moscow venues.

In 2013-2014, Ayrat Kashaev was a leading conductor of Pavel Slobodkin Centre Chamber Orchestra.

In April 2013, Ayrat Kashaev was invited by Gennady Rozhdestvensky to become a conductor at Pokrovsky Chamber Opera. Since then, he has been Gennady Rozhdestvensky's assistant and a conductor in the productions of Britten's The Prodigal Son, Schubert – Denisov's Lazarus oderDie Feier der Auferstehung, Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen. At the theatre, he has been the Music Director of a production based on Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, and of the world première of Alexander Manotskov's opera Titius the Irreproachable. In the season 2016/2017, Ayrat Kashaev has been assistant conductor to Ignat Solzhenitsyn for the production of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito.

Since 2015, Ayrat Kashaev has been the Director and Conductor of Taurida National Educational Forum's Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, he was the Artistic Director of Taurida's Echo, the Musical Academic Assembly of Young Composers, Musicologists, and Musicians.

Ayrat Kashaev has partnered with many renowned soloists such as Venera Guimadieva, Ilya Gaisin, Alexander Ramm, Vadim Kholodenko, Alisa Guitsba, Valentin Urupin, Mikhail Kazakov, Andrey Gugnin, Alexey Tikhomirov, Elena Korzhenevich, Alexey Skanavi, Serguey Poltavsky, Irina Sopova, Serguey Pospelov. He has also collaborated with several Russian choirs such as Vesna Children's Choir, Aurora Children's Choir, Moscow Oratorio Choir and Chamber Choir of the Moscow Conservatory.

Awards

In 2009, Ayrat Kashaev won the Russian National Choral Conducting Competition.