Biography
Composer, conductor, pianist, and synesthete, Anna Skryleva was awarded the prestigious Opus Klassik Award in 2024 and has garnered international attention for her profound musical work.
As a composing conductor and General Music Director at the Theater Magdeburg (2019–2025), she is passionately dedicated to expanding the orchestral and opera repertoire. Her rediscovery and world premiere of Eugen Engel’s opera »Grete Minde« in 2022 caused an international sensation and is considered a discovery of the century. During her tenure in Magdeburg, numerous successful projects were realized, earning her international recognition: the Special Prize for »Innovative Orchestra 2019« by the German Orchestra Foundation, a nomination for the »International Opera Awards 2022«, co-commissions with leading orchestras from Canada, England, and the USA, as well as the Opus Klassik Award 2024, are just a few of her significant achievements.
As a conductor, Anna Skryleva works regularly with leading orchestras and opera houses, including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Copenhagen Phil, the Royal Swedish Opera, and The Dallas Opera. In 2025, she will debut at Teatro alla Scala and the Sydney Opera House.
Since being accepted into the composition class at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory at the age of just ten, Anna Skryleva has consistently worked as a composer. Her works are published by Universal Edition Vienna. For the Theater Magdeburg and Winterthur, she created several opera and orchestral arrangements, including a reduced version of Mozart’s »La clemenza di Tito«.
For 2024, two more world premieres took place successfully: »3 Impromptus in C« in the orchestral version with the Augsburg Philharmonic and »Mirror« for soprano and orchestra with the Magdeburg Philharmonic. »Mirror« is based on the »Solresol" language, in which each musical motif is assigned a specific word. The composition is based on a poem written by Skryleva in 2021, where music is triggered and shaped by words.
In October 2025, the world premiere of »Scherzo for Horn and Orchestra« will take place, a work composed by Skryleva for the renowned horn player Felix Klieser, which will be part of a concert for horn and orchestra.
After the successful collaboration on the opera production »Grete Minde« with Deutschlandfunk Kultur, another exciting project is emerging with the Rundfunk- Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Deutschlandfunk Kultur, focusing on the works of the Russian composer Leokadiya Kashperova.