Semyon Bychkov (conductor)
Semyon Mayevich Bychkov (; born November 30, 1952) is a Soviet-born conductor. He currently holds the position of chief conductor and artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic. Biography Childhood and studies in Russia Bychkov was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) to Jewish parents. His younger brother was Yakov Kreizberg, also a conductor. Bychkov studied at the Glinka Choir School for ten years before moving to the Leningrad Conservatory where he was a student of Ilya Musin. While at the Conservatory, Bychkov played volleyball for the Leningrad Dynamos. In 1973 he won the Rachmaninov Conducting Competition, but was denied the usual prize of conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic by the authorities after he applied for an exit visa. His family had suffered from official antisemitism and after expressing views critical of the Soviet regime he decided to leave the country in 1974, going first to Vienna with only $100 in funds. Studies and career in the United States In 1975, at age 22, he left Vienna and emigrated to the United States. Bychkov attended and graduated the Mannes School of Music then becoming the director of the Mannes College Orchestra. From 1980 to 1985, Semyon Bychkov served as music director of