ARTIST PROFILE:
Anna Rakitina

Anna Rakitina has been in high demand with international orchestras since her major debuts in the 2021/22 season. Praised for the emotional depth of her interpretation and a quiet authority, she excels at the big symphonic works of the 20th century, in particular of the Russian composers. She has conducted the Boston, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, Baltimore, Utah, North Carolina, Jacksonville, and Vancouver symphony orchestras, as well as the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the New York Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the US, and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and SWR Symphonieorchester in Europe. Further afield she had her Japan debut with Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in 2023. In 2025, she received the prestigious European Cultural Award in recognition of her extraordinary talent and remarkable contributions to the world of classical music.

Rakitina opens the 2026/27 season at the Brucknerfest Linz performing Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s trumpet concerto “Nobody knows de trouble I see” with Hakan Hardenberger, followed by the season opening of Grazer Musikverein conducting the Grazer Philharmoniker with pianist Rudolf Buchbinder. Further highlights of the season include debuts with the Spanish National Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester and Hamburger Symphoniker, as well as Nashville, Omaha and San Jose Symphony Orchestras. She returns to North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland following her successful debuts in 2025. She enjoys working with the new generation of musicians and appears with the Bundesjugendorchester and the Bergen Youth Orchestra. Conducting the Konzerthausorchester Berlin at the Opus Klassik 2026 Gala is another highlight of the season.