Alexander Kantorov is a Russian conductor, violinist, and music teacher. Born on April 7, 1947, in Leningrad, he began studying the violin at the age of five or six.
He received his higher musical education at the Leningrad Conservatory, first graduating as a violinist in Mikhail Vaiman's class and later studying conducting with Ilya Musin. Kantorov began his conducting career as assistant conductor of the Sverdlovsk State Symphony Orchestra.
Drawing on musicians from that orchestra and students of the Ural Conservatory, he founded the Sverdlovsk Chamber Orchestra. On February 4, 1984, the ensemble performed with Mikhail Pletnev in the Grand Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic.
In 1986 Kantorov founded the Klassika Symphony Orchestra in Leningrad. The orchestra received state status in 1992, and he has served as its chief conductor and artistic director since then. In 1999, he was awarded the honorary title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.
Kantorov is also artistic director of a music festival in Sochi. With the Klassika Orchestra, he has revived the traditions of the St. Petersburg Musical Seasons through concerts at the city's Summer Theatre, and he gives master classes for young Russian and international conductors.
For many years, he has pursued an educational program introducing university and school students to classical art. His work formed the basis of the course Introduction to Classical Music at the Alexander Herzen Russian Pedagogical University, where he is a professor. He has regularly presented school concerts under the motto “Let Us Raise a Generation of Happy People!” and received a United States Medal for Merit for a series of educational concerts for American young people.
In March 2004, Kantorov received the honorary title “King of St. Petersburg Waltzes.” The crown symbolizing the title was presented to him by the composer Andrei Petrov. The White Hall of the Polytechnic Institute, built in 1902, is the principal home venue of the St. Petersburg Klassika Orchestra under Kantorov's direction.