Alim Šach
Conductor
Beijing Floboe is an award-winning chamber duo based in Berlin, founded
Alim Šach is widely regarded as one of the most distinctive representatives of the Leningrad–Petersburg conducting tradition. A graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory under the legendary Ilya Musin and Fyodor Kozlov, he made his conducting debut in 1994 at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Since then, he has led more than 1,000 concerts and opera performances worldwide.
His artistic identity was shaped by close friendships with leading Russian composers of the "Sixtiers" generation, including Valery Uspensky, Boris Tishchenko and Sergei Slonimsky. This creative exchange laid the foundation for his deep commitment to contemporary music. Alim Šach has premiered dozens of new works—many dedicated to him personally—and continues to champion composers of today with intellectual precision and expressive clarity.
He has worked with renowned artists such as Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, Mstislav Rostropovich, Maxim Shostakovich, Boris Berezovsky, Richard Galliano and many others. His opera engagements have included productions at major companies across Europe and the United States. In 2001, he was awarded the Artist Public Recognition Prize in California for his celebrated production of Bizet’s Carmen. From 2003 to 2005 he served as General Music Director of the St. Petersburg Operetta Theatre, and from 2012 to 2015 he led the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
His opera repertoire includes Mozart (Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro), Bizet (Carmen), Puccini (La bohème, Tosca), Rossini (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Tchaikovsky (Pique Dame - The Queen of Spades), Eugene Onegin), and Smetana (The Bartered Bride), alongside operettas by J. Strauss, Kálmán and Lehár, and musicals by Loewe, Herman and Uspensky.
In 2002, he launched the Let’s Make Music project with the International Symphony Orchestra, followed by the co-creation of Cinemaphonia in 2005—an innovative artistic concept combining film and live music, premiered at London’s Royal Albert Hall with collaborators such as Valery Gergiev, Theodoros Angelopoulos and Rudolf Barshai. He is also known for his cross-genre projects, incorporating elements of rock, hip-hop, pantomime, and melodic declamation.
From 2008 to 2022, Alim Šach served as Chief Conductor of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, transforming it into one of the most refined ensembles in Russia. He currently resides in Prague and holds Czech citizenship. One of his signature initiatives in recent years is the International Conducting Masterclass, which has attracted participants from 32 countries over the past decade.
In April 2025, Alim Šach conducted a concert of Czech music (Janáček and Dvořák) with the Armenian State Chamber Orchestra in Yerevan—an event of cultural and political significance, attended by dozens of ambassadors from various countries. The concert was widely recognised as a landmark moment in Armenian–Czech relations.
He has received high praise from critics and fellow musicians alike:
"He hears the score perfectly, revealing even hidden rhythmic and intonational structures. His interpretations are rich in meaning and logic. A true gift to any composer."
— Boris Tishchenko, composer
“I am pleased to say that Alim Šach conducts my father’s music better than most conductors in the world.”
— Maxim Shostakovich, conductor
“During Alim Šach’s tenure, the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra became one of the finest ensembles I have ever heard in my life.”
— Sergei Slonimsky, composer
The newspaper Evening Petersburg described him as "one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation," citing "an exquisite musical instinct, superb manual technique and refined artistic presence" as hallmarks of his unmistakable style.
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