Vladimir Ziva is recognised as one of Russia’s most outstanding young conductors. Born in 1957, he holds degrees from both Leningrad and Moscow Conservatories. From 1984 until 1987 he served as assistant to the principal conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic. During the 1988-1989 academic year he was invited to join the Moscow Conservatory to teach conducting, and from 1988 to June 2000 he was artistic director and chief conductor of the Nizhni Novgorod Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1990-1992 he was appointed to the position of principal conductor of the St Petersburg Opera and Ballet Mussorgsky Theatre. He has divided his creative talents between his duties in Nizhny-Novgorod and his work as the principal conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra’s series Anniversary Musical Dates. In 2000 Vladimir Ziva was appointed artistic director and principal conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. 

At the invitation of Sviatoslav Richter and in collaboration with B. Pokrovski, he directed several operatic productions for the festival December Evenings, including Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and Albert Herring, and Tchaikovsky’s The Snowmaiden. Vladimir Ziva has undertaken many tours both in Russia and abroad, with leading Russian and Western orchestras, performing in Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, and France, and collaborating with the most distinguished soloists. In 1994 he was honoured with the official title of Honoured Artist of Russia and the following year as the laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation.