Born in Moscow, Valery Gergiev studied conducting at the Leningrad Conservatoire and at age 23, won Berlin's "Herbert von Karajan Competition". He made his Kirov Opera debut in 1978 with War and Peace and in1988 was designated Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. In 1996, the Russian government appointed him Director of the Mariinsky Theatre. He has appeared with all the leading orchestras of the former Soviet Union and has guest conducted most of the world's major orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw, London's Royal Philharmonic, Rome's Santa Cecilia, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Tokyo's NHK Symphony, and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Maestro Gergiev is the organizer of St. Petersburg's annual “Stars of the White Nights” Festival and is the founder and artistic director of many international music festivals including “For Peace in the Caucasus” (Vladikavkaz), the Mikkeli Festival (Finland), the Red Sea Festival (Eilat), the Kirov Philharmonic (London), the Rotterdam Philharmonic-Gergiev Festival (Netherlands) and the Moscow Easter Festival.

His recordings on CD and video include The Maid of Pskov , Khovanshchina , Sadko , War and Peace , The Queen of Spades, Iolanta, Ruslan and Lyudmila, The Fiery Angel, Prince Igor, La Forza del Destino, several orchestral albums and recitals, and the complete ballets Romeo and Juliet and Sleeping Beauty . Recent releases include The Gambler, Mazeppa, Kashchei the Immortal, Betrothal in a Monastery and Ivan the Terrible.

Among Valery Gergiev's numerous international honors are Musical America's "Conductor of the Year" award, as well as Russia's Dmitri Shostakovich Award, Golden Mask Award, and "People's Artist of Russia," the country's highest cultural award.