Ravil Martynov was a Soviet and Russian conductor and music educator. He was born in Leningrad on June 16, 1946, and died on November 9, 2004, aged 58.
He began studying music at the M. I. Glinka Choral School in Leningrad. His teachers were Vladimir Vasilyev in conducting and Lydia Wasserman in piano. After graduating in 1964, he studied at the Leningrad and Moscow Conservatories.
From 1982 to 1984, Martynov conducted the Leningrad Philharmonic’s Academic Symphony Orchestra under Yevgeny Mravinsky. In 1986, he became chief conductor and artistic director of the Leningrad State Symphony Orchestra, later renamed the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, and held the post until his death. He also led the Rostov-on-Don Academic Symphony Orchestra and taught as a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 2000, he was named People’s Artist of the Russian Federation.
His son, Timur Martynov, is a trumpeter and soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra.