VLADIMIR SAGAYDO
Conductor . Cellist . Composer & Pianist
Born in 1986 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, into a family of musicians, Vladimir began his musical training at an early age: piano at the age of 4 and later cello at the age of 6. He currently resides in Mexico, where he has developed a distinguished international career as a creator, performer, and conductor.
In 2025, he completed his studies at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Saint Petersburg, where he studied cello with Anatoly Nikitin (principal cellist of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra), quartet with Daniel Meerovich (Stravinsky Quartet), chamber music with Neli Sklyarskaya, piano with Svetlana Benedivtova, and composition with Alexander Mnatsakhanian (a student of Dmitri Shostakovich).
He has also taken classes in Boston and Paris, and participated in courses at the Vienna Conservatory. He attended masterclasses with distinguished personalities of the 20th century, many of whom continued their artistic activity into the 21st century.
He has received awards in more than 20 international competitions and festivals, including “New Names” (Moscow, Russia), the Kichompré International Competition (France), the “Gartow Stiftung” International Competition (Saint Petersburg, Russia), and, as a pianist, he obtained First Prize and an Honorary Mention (Grand Prize) at the “Duettino” Competition (Russia).
He has been invited to international festivals such as the Second World Cello Congress of Rostropovich in Saint Petersburg (1997), the Arolsen International Festival in Germany (1998), the “Young Euro Classics” International Festival in Berlin (2003), “Viva Vivaldi” in Mexico (all five editions), the 17th Morelia International Music Festival “Miguel Bernal Jiménez,” the Festival de Mayo in Guadalajara (2008), Música del Mar in Huatulco (all three editions), Autumn in Kaliningrad (2008), and Spring of Kamchatka (2009).
He has served as principal cellist of the San Luis Potosí Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Petersburg State Capella, the Russian National Youth Philharmonic, the Neuhardenberg Academy in Germany, and the Italian Symphonic Orchestra, as well as a member of the Minería Symphony Orchestra.
In Mexico, Vladimir has performed as a soloist at the Auditorio Nacional with the IPN Symphony Orchestra and at Sala Nezahualcóyotl with the UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Luis Potosí Symphony Orchestra.
He has performed in some of the world’s most important concert halls, such as the Shostakovich Philharmonic Hall, the Moscow Conservatory, the Sacred Music College in Rome, Berlin’s Rathaus, the Konzerthaus Berlin and Berliner Philharmonie, he has appeared at the Auditorio Nacional, Sala Nezahualcóyotl, Palacio de Bellas Artes, and Teatro Juárez in Guanajuato.
He has performed as a soloist under the batons of Gabriel Chmura, Emmanuel Siffert, José Miramontes, Tugan Sokhiev, Saulius Sondeckis, Alexander Sladkovsky, among others.
He has appeared as a soloist with the Wiesbaden Chamber Orchestra, the Saint Petersburg Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, the Russian National Youth Philharmonic, the Novgorod Philharmonic, the Kamchatka Philharmonic, the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra, the San Luis Potosí Symphony Orchestra, the IPN Symphony Orchestra, the UNAM Philharmonic, the National Symphonies of Ecuador and El Salvador, as well as with the Saint Petersburg Soloists Ensemble conducted by Michael Gantvarg.
Among his chamber music partners are violinists such as Nicolas Koeckert and Ekaterina Frolova, and pianists such as Miroslav Kultyshev, Pavel Egorov, and Eugene Kruschevsky.
In Mexico, he regularly performed with the Slavic Ensemble and the Mexico City Quartet (2005–2009), with which he participated in cultural projects between Berlin and Mexico City, including a concert at the Grand Hall of the Berlin Government.
He is dedicated to the research and performance of contemporary and early music, as well as to the promotion of Mexican music on an international level. He has created festivals and programs dedicated to Mexican music in Russia since 2003. His first festival was dedicated to Saint Petersburg and formed part of the city’s 300th anniversary celebration.
In Russia, he founded a quintet dedicated to the music of Piazzolla and a trio in Munich, with which he recorded works by Ponce, Rachmaninoff, and Shostakovich for the Urtext Digital Classics label.
As a cello teacher, he has given masterclasses and private lessons at the National Conservatory of Ecuador and the Rachmaninoff College in Kaliningrad, among others.
He has premiered more than 20 works by various composers for cello and chamber music, several of which were dedicated to him.
He also gives socially oriented performances, offering concerts at festivals for children in vulnerable situations and for cancer patients.
His international activity spans Russia, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, the United States, and Latin America.
Since 2007, he has been composer-in-residence at the “Viva Vivaldi” and Música del Mar festivals.
As a conductor, he debuted with the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, he received the Grand Prize “Hope of Russia.”
In 2010, he made recordings for the “Arco y Lira” label. In 2011, he recorded albums featuring his own works and classical repertoire. In 2012, he participated in major festivals in Mexico.
From 2016 to 2018, he served as musical assistant to the National Opera Company and assistant conductor of the Orchestra of the Teatro de Bellas Artes.
He is currently a Music Director of Orquesta Sinfónica del Instituto Politécnico Nacional.
He performs on two Italian instruments: one from Cremona (1752) and another from Milan (1725).
