Semyon Bychkov

Semyon Bychkov (Russian: Семён Бычков,; born November 30, 1952, Leningrad) is a Russian-American conductor. He is the older brother of conductor Yakov Kreizberg.^[1]

In Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Bychkov studied at the Glinka Choir School for ten years and later at the Leningrad Conservatory with Ilya Musin. In 1973 he won the Rachmaninov Conducting Competition and was asked to conduct the Leningrad Philharmonic. However the concert was canceled because of Bychkov's political views.^{[citation needed]} In 1974, he emigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union. Bychkov attended Mannes College The New School for Music and was director of the Mannes College Orchestra. From 1980 to 1985, Semyon Bychkov served as music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony and as principal guest conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He became music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic in 1985 and held that post until 1989. On 4 July 1983, he became a United States citizen. ^[1]

From 1989 to 1998, Bychkov was music director of the Orchestre de Paris. He became chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne in Cologne in 1997. He is scheduled to step down from this post in 2010.^[2]

Bychkov has been married twice. His second wife is the pianist Marielle Labèque.