Alexander Lazarev

Alexander Lazarev (born 5 July 1945, Moscow, Russia) is a Russian conductor. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, and later at the Moscow Conservatory with Leo Ginsbourg. In 1971, he was the first prize winner in a national conducting competition in the USSR. In 1972, he won a first prize and gold medal in the Karajan conducting competition in Berlin. From 1987-1995, Lazarev was both Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, the first person in over thirty years to hold both positions simultaneously.