Born in Moscow in 1945, Michail Jurowski is the son of the composer Wladimir Jurowski and grandson of the conductor David Block. His sons Vladimir and Dmitri are also internationally renowned conductors. Michail Jurowski grew up in the circle of internationally acclaimed artists of the former Soviet Union such as Ojstrach, Rostropovitch, Kogan, Gilels, and Chatchaturjan. Dmitri Shostakovich was a close family friend and he and Michail not only spoke often but would also play four-hand piano pieces together. Such experiences had a huge influence on the young musician and it is therefore no coincidence that today Michail Jurowski is one of the leading interpreters of Shostakovich’s music. In 2012 Michail Jurowski was awarded the third International Shostakovich Prize by the Shostakovich Gohrisch Foundation.
From 1978 Michail Jurowski was regular guest conductor at the Komische Oper Berlin and in 1989 he left the USSR with his family after accepting permanent post with the Dresden Semperoper. Other titled positions have included: General Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Northwest German Philharmonic Orchestra; Chief Conductor of Leipzig Opera; Chief Conductor of WDR Rundfunkorchester
in Cologne; Principal Conductor of German Opera Berlin (Deutsche oper Berlin); Principal Guest Conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.
The upcoming 16/17 season includes The Fiery Angel with Staatsoper Munich and Swan Lake at La Scala, as well as concerts with the Belgrade Philharmonic, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, Orchestre National de Bordeaux, King Capelle Copenhagen, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Janacek Philharmonic Ostrava and Sinfonia Iuventus in Warsaw.
In 1992 and 1996 Jurowski won the German Record Critics' Prize and in 2001 he received a Grammy nomination for 3 CD productions of Orchestral Music by Rimsky-Korsakov with the RSB Orchestra.
