Viktorija Žaďko
Guest of the OperaBiography
Victoria Zhadko, the very first woman in Ukraine to have become a professional conductor, has performed in Finland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, the UK and other countries. Between 1997 and 2000, she was principal conductor of the Kharkiv Philharmonic. She has won prizes at the International Sergei Prokofiev Competition in St Petersburg (1993), the Concorso Internazionale di Direzione d’orchestra “Arturo Toscanini” in Parma (1993), the Kirill Kondrashin Conducting Competition in Amsterdam (1994) and Malko Competition in Copenhagen (1995 and 1998). She studied the guitar and conducting at the P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory (today the National Music Academy of Ukraine), graduating in 1991 (guitar) and 1993 (conducting) respectively. In 1994, she was awarded the title Merited Artist of Ukraine.