Vakhtang Zhordania

Vakhtang Zhordania was a Georgian-American conductor, born in Tbilisi on December 9, 1942. At age nine, he decided to become a conductor after attending a concert in the Soviet Union by Willy Ferrero. He studied piano at the Tbilisi Conservatory, then conducting at the Leningrad Conservatory, where he graduated in 1969 from Eduard Grikurov’s class. From 1970 to 1973, he was assistant to Yevgeny Mravinsky at the Leningrad Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. In 1971, he won first prize at the Herbert von Karajan International Conductors’ Competition.

Zhordania was chief conductor of the Leningrad Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra from 1973 to 1974. He recorded music for several well-known Soviet films, including The Straw Hat, The Star of Captivating Happiness, and Dersu Uzala. From 1974 to 1977, he led the Saratov Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and served as an associate professor at the Saratov Conservatory. From 1977 to 1983, he was chief conductor and artistic director of the Kharkiv Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and a professor at the Kharkiv Institute of Arts. During his years in Kharkiv, he gave about 100 concerts a year. He was named Honored Art Worker of the Ukrainian SSR and People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR in 1983.

In November 1983, Zhordania made his Carnegie Hall debut with the American Symphony Orchestra. He worked mainly in the United States thereafter, leading the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra and Opera from 1985 to 1992 and the Spokane orchestra from 1991 to 1993. He also worked with orchestras in South Korea, served as a guest conductor of the Korean Radio Symphony Orchestra, and conducted its premiere recordings of works by Alan Hovhaness. From 2002, he was chief conductor and artistic director of the Daegu City Symphony Orchestra. He also led the Russian Federal Symphony Orchestra from 1995.

In 2001, Zhordania founded the Vakhtang Zhordania—Third Millennium International Conductors’ Competition in Kharkiv, contributing substantially to its costs himself. He chaired the jury during the competition’s first two years. He died in Broadway, Virginia, on October 4, 2005.

Organizations

• Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts
• Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory
• Saint Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory
• Saratov Conservatory
• Tbilisi State Conservatoire
• Saint Petersburg Philharmonia
• Kharkiv Philharmonic
• Carnegie Hall
• Chattanooga Symphony and Opera
• St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra