Maxim Emelyanychev made his conducting debut at the age of twelve in his hometown of Nizhny Novgorod. Shortly afterwards, he appeared in other Russian cities, also with great success, conducting baroque and symphony orchestras.
In 2013, he became chief conductor of the baroque orchestra Il pomo d'oro. His highly acclaimed debut outside Russia in 2014 with Mozart's "Don Giovanni" at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville catapulted him onto the symphony and opera stages of Europe.
The 2016/17 season saw an international tour with Il pomo d'oro and Joyce DiDonato, his debut at the Zurich Opera with Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" and his debut with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, where he has since conducted three times a year.
In the following two seasons, Maxim Emelyanychev returned to the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla for the fourth time and conducted the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano La Verdi, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Bordeaux and the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra invited him to conduct Schubert's Ninth Symphony at short notice. This concert impressed the musicians so much that they immediately appointed him their chief conductor, starting in autumn 2019 as successor of Robin Ticciati.
In the 2018/19 season, he made his debut with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen. He went on a three-week tour of Asia and the Middle East with Il pomo d'oro and Joyce DiDonato.
On the evening of his first concert as chief conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in November 2019, the ensemble extended his contract until 2025. During the 2019/20 season, Maxim Emelyanychev also conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Glyndebourne Festival (Handel's "Rinaldo" with Jakub Józef Orliński in the title role) and at the Royal Opera House (Handel's "Agrippina" with Joyce DiDonato in the title role). He returned to the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and made his debut with the Berlin Konzerthausorchester, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, with which he made his US debut.
Highlights of his 2020/21 season included Mozart's operas "La clemenza di Tito" at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and "Le nozze di Figaro" at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, as well as his debuts with the Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, the Tapiola Sinfonietta and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
In August 2021, Maxim Emelyanychev and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra were invited to the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh International Festival. In the 2021/22 season, the conductor and Il pomo d'oro with Joyce DiDonato embarked on three concert tours of Europe and the USA, performing Handel's "Theodora", which they recorded together for Warner in September 2021, and "Eden", a programme dedicated to nature. Other highlights of the season included Maxim Emelyanychev's debuts with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He also returned to the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. He went on a European tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, which he also accompanied to the Festival de Radio-France Montpellier and the Edinburgh International Festival.
In the 2022/23 season, he toured the United States with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and performed with them at the London Proms and the Edinburgh International Festival. He made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Osaka Kansai Philharmonic, the Bergen Philharmonic, the Helsinki Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. He also returned to the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and conducted Mozart's "The Magic Flute" at the Royal Opera House in London.
In the 2023/24 season, he made his debut with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the WDR Symphonieorchester in Cologne, the SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Mozarteumorchester at the Salzburg Festival. He has accepted invitations from the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
Further highlights included a duo recital with violinist Aylen Pritchin at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, a European tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and an Asian tour with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris.
In the 2024/25 season, Maxim Emelyanychev makes his debuts with the Orchestre National de France, the Münchner Philharmoniker, the Dresdner Philharmonie and the Tokyo Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra. He will once again be a guest conductor with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He accompanies Joyce DiDonato on the piano in Schubert's "Winterreise" in Berlin (Staatsoper), London (Wigmore Hall), Dortmund (Konzerthaus) and Antwerp (De Singel).
Maxim Emelyanychev is the winner of numerous international competitions for harpsichord, piano and conducting and in 2013 received the Golden Mask, Russia's highest award, for his participation as pianist in the production of "Le nozze di Figaro" at the Perm Opera (Sony Classics).
He has recorded several albums for Warner Classics/Erato with Il pomo d'oro, including an album of Haydn symphonies and concertos with Ricardo Minasi and "In War and Peace – Harmony through music" with Joyce DiDonato, which won the 2017 Gramophone Award.
In 2019, he received the prestigious International Opera Award in the "Newcomer" category for his performances at the helm of Il pomo d'oro with Joyce DiDonato and Franco Fagioli. In the same year, he was awarded the Young Talent Award in the "Music" category by the Critics' Circle.
Also in 2019, his recording of Schubert's Ninth Symphony with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on the Linn Records label received five-star reviews in The Times, The Scotsman and The Guardian.
In 2023, Maxim Emelyanychev and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra recorded Mendelssohn's Symphonies Nos. 3 and 5. Their recording of Schubert's Symphonies Nos. 5 and 8 was released in November 2024, also on the Linn Records label.
For Aparté, he recorded a CD of Mozart sonatas on the fortepiano, which was awarded a Choc de Classica in 2018 and the ICMA in 2019. In the field of chamber music, he recorded Brahms' sonatas for piano and violin with violinist Aylen Pritchin in 2021.
Most recently, he has embarked on a complete recording of Mozart's symphonies for Aparté with Il pomo d'oro. The first two albums have already been highly praised by the press.
Maxim Emelyanychev was born into a family of musicians in 1988 and studied piano and orchestral conducting at the music school in Nizhny Novgorod before starting his studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow with Gennady Rozhdestvensky.