The Russian conductor, Alexander Titov, studied at the Leningrad State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire, where he concentrated on three distinct fields: choral conducting (class of Professor A. Mikhailov) and piano (class of Professor V. Gentsler) graduating in 1976, and operatic-symphonic conducting (in the class of Professor Ilya Musin) graduating in 1981. In 1988 he was a prize-winner of the International Min-On Competition in Tokyo. 　　In 1976 he began his conducting career as assistant to Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Mstislav Rostropovich, and has since become one of Russia's leading conductors. From 1989 to present he is Conductor of Mariinsky (former Kirov) Opera and Ballet Theatre. He is a regular Guest Conductor with the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra (since 1991), Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra (since 2002), and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (since 1993). In addition, he has worked with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and all he leading St Petersburg symphony orchestras, including the Symphony Orchestra of Saint Petersburg Philharmonia, the St. Petersburg Festival Orchestra, the St. Petersburg New Classical Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra "Canon," and the St. Petersburg Conservatory Chamber Orchestra. 　　In 1981 Alexander Titov assumed the post of lecturer in opera and symphonic conducting at the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory of St. Petersburg. In July-August 1990 he participated in Tanglewood International Conductors' Seminar (USA). 　　Alexander Titov has toured widely, with visits to the USA, UK, Germany, Italy, Holland, Finland, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Japan, China - Hong-Kong, Columbia, Brazil, Latvia, and other countries, and has made appearances in the world's leading opera theatres, such as La Scala, La Fenice, Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, and San Francisco Opera. He works regularly with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, notably on the orchestra's ground-breaking tour of China in November 2000. 　　Alexander Titov is the recipient of the Golden Masque Prize (2001), St. Petersburg's highest prize in theatrical arts Golden Soffit for the best conductor's work (2002), and the Fortissimo Prize initiated by the St. Petersburg Conservatoire (2003). He has recorded over 70 CD's, with a huge and diverse canon drawn from the classical, romantic, and contemporary periods. He has placed particular emphasis on the symphonic, operatic, and ballet repertoires of Russian composers - including Glinka, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Schnittke. This interest extends to works of contemporary Russian composers.