Biography
Lauded for his creative artistic leadership, Mark Kadin has held the position of Music Director of the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2017. His inspiring work with the orchestra is the rare combination of exceptional musicianship, brilliant intellect, and generosity of spirit, which leads to unforgettable performances of sincere emotional power. Together, they have built up an extensive and highly regarded media library of live concert recordings in recent years. Mark Kadin’s concerts with the BNR Symphony Orchestra are regularly broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Swedish and Danish Radio, Portuguese National and Spanish National Radio, Musiq 3 (Belgium) and BBC 3.
In 2018 Mark and the BNR SO performed for the first time at the World Orchestra Series in South Korea, with concerts in Daegu and Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul.
Mark Kadin was Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Krasnoyarsk Symphony Orchestra 2004-2014, where he was responsible for the success and growth of the orchestra. In addition to conducting 40 symphonic programs every season, he established a groundbreaking Summer Open Air Festival in Krasnoyarsk and other cities in the Siberian region which were attended by tens of thousands of spectators. He led the orchestra on three Asian tours to China and South Korea with concerts in prestigious concert halls including the Seoul Arts Center.
He was Associate Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra 1997-2004, the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra 1994-2004 and the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra 1999-2003, where he has conducted annually about 30 concerts in Russia, notably leading the orchestra on European tours to Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany including concerts at the Kölner Philharmonie, Tonhalle Düsseldorf and the Munich Herkulessaal.
“...an enchanting dialogue between the mind and emotions, which creates a balance in his interpretations while freeing the music from pathos and sentimentality.”
Kultura.bg
He has maintained a regular relationship with many orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and New Zealand and has worked with top artists such as Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Dmitry Khvorostovsky, Sumi Jo, Mikhail Pletnev, Viktor Tretyakov, Simon Trpčeski, Hibla Gerzmava, Boris Berezovsky, Nikolay Lugansky, Kristof Barati, Alena Baeva, Lucas Geniushas, Rafael Aguirre and many others. His guest engagements include the Russian National Orchestra, Moscow State and Russian Philharmonic, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Filharmonia Artur Rubinstein, Polish Wieniawski Philharmonic and Queensland Symphony. He has also appeared with orchestras in London, Roma, Singapore, Istanbul and Copenhagen. Mark Kadin has led the Moravian and Sofia Philharmonic, Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, Gavle Symphony in Sweden, Liepaja, Kaunas and Klaipeda Symphony in Latvia and Lithuania, Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Turkey, Israel Sinfonietta, Transylvanian Philharmonic, Gyeonggi Philharmonic, Yucatan Symphony and Bellas Artes Chamber Orchestra in Mexico, National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, Parana Symphony Orchestra in Brasil, Christchurch Symphony in New Zealand, Xiamen Philharmonic and others.
Alongside the core repertoire (including Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Dvorak, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Rimski-Korsakov, Sibelius, Mahler, Bartok, Shostakovich) Mark Kadin maintains a strong affinity to rarely heard works by Stenhammar, Kurpinsky, Walton, Silvestrov, Schnittke and others:
“He likes to do this type of conceptual, thematic, genre-summarizing concerts, with the aim of intriguing the audience and the orchestra in different ways.” - Decrescendo.net
At the heart of Mark's activity with the BNR Symphony Orchestra is a broad and eclectic list of recordings. Among recent works are a serie of symphonies of Haydn, music by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Reger, Elgar, music by composers of the Russian and Bulgarian Avant Garde, “forgotten” during the Communist period. Apart from Sofia's concert season the BNR SO has been a regular visitor to the prestigious Balkan festivals: Varna Summer and March Music Days in Ruse. But the popularization and promotion of the orchestra's activities is not limited to concerts and recordings. Mark Kadin is the author and host of the first Bulgarian podcast about classical music 'Classical Question'.
During his collaboration with the orchestra his innovative ideas, glittering interpretations, creative energy and endeavours to expand the audience were highly praised and rewarded by Bulgarian culture and media institutions. The last one is the 2022 National Award Crystal Lyra - for achievements in the performing art.
Mark was born in Ukraine and started his musical life in Kharkiv. He studied conducting at the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow. While still a student he began his conducting career in 1990 as an Assistant conductor of the Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music and the “Young Russia” State Symphony Orchestra. He worked with Valery Gergiev, Mstislav Rostropovich, Kent Nagano, Michael Tilson-Thomas and Evgeny Svetlanov..