Teodor Currentzis

Teodor Currentzis (Greek: Θεόδωρος Κουρεντζής; born February 24, 1972) is a Russian conductor, musician and actor of Greek origin. Currentzis was born in Athens, and at age 4 began to take piano lessons. At age 7, he began violin lessons. He entered the National Conservatory, Athens at the age of 12, in the violin department. In 1987, aged 15, he began composition studies under Professor George Hadjinikos, and then in 1989 under Professor B. Shreck. From 1994 to 1999, Currentzis studied conducting in the St. Petersburg State Conservatory with Ilya Musin. From 2004 to 2010, Currentzis served as principal conductor of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, where in 2004 he founded the Orchestra MusicAeterna and later the Chorus MusicAeterna. Since February 2011, Currentzis has been music director of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre, to which he brought both of his MusicAeterna groups.Currentzis became principal guest conductor of the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2011. In April 2017, the SWR announced the appointment of Currentzis as the first chief conductor of the SWR Symphonieorchester (the successor orchestra to the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra), effective with the 2018-2019 season.Outside of music, in 2009, Currentzis acted in Ilya Khrzhanovsky's film Dau (Russian: Дау) based on the biography of the physicist Lev Landau.