Ivan Mikhailovich Nikiforchin (born February 15, 1995, Moscow) is a Russian conductor, founder, artistic director and chief conductor of the Academy of Russian Music Symphony Chapel. He is also the artistic director and chief conductor of the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra. In 2025, he became a laureate of the Prize of the President of the Russian Federation for young cultural figures.
Ivan Nikiforchin was born in 1995 in Moscow. In 2020, he graduated from the Faculty of Opera and Symphony Conducting at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory. His mentors were Professor Valery Polyansky (opera and symphony conducting) and Professor Yuri Abdokov (composition, orchestration, history of orchestral styles).
He participated in master classes by renowned conductors Yuri Temirkanov and Vasily Petrenko. During his postgraduate studies at the Conservatory, under the supervision of Yuri Abdokov, he worked on his dissertation on the orchestral music of Herman Galynin.
Since 2015, Ivan Nikiforchin has worked at the State Academic Symphony Chapel of Russia. He was first assistant to the Chief Conductor (2017-2021), then became the conductor (2021-2024). In 2020-2021, he was also the conductor of the Tatarstan State Academic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alexander Sladkovsky.
In 2022-2023, he was the artistic director of the Symphony Orchestra of the College at the Moscow State Institute of Music named after A. G. Schnittke. Since 2021, he has been an assistant to Professor V. K. Polyansky, Head of the Department of Opera and Symphony Conducting at the Moscow Conservatory. Since 2022, he has been teaching opera and symphony conducting at the Conservatory.
In March 2021, Ivan Nikiforchin made his debut as an opera conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, staging Mozart's opera Don Juan. Since 2022, he has been the conductor of the ballet The Nutcracker by P. I. Tchaikovsky at the Moscow Academic Musical Theater named after K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko.
On February 8, 2024, the premiere of the opera and drama play "The Snow Maiden" to the music of P. I. Tchaikovsky, staged by Ivan Nikiforchin, took place at the Bolshoi Theater of Russia. The performance was timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the world premiere and the 200th anniversary of the birth of A. N. Ostrovsky.
On August 14, 2024, Ivan Nikiforchin was appointed artistic director of the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra. Since 2025, he has become the chief guest conductor of the Nizhny Novgorod Philharmonic.
Ivan Nikiforchin founded the symphonic chapel "Academy of Russian Music" (ARM), where he is the artistic director and chief conductor. The chapel unites a symphony orchestra and a choir and performs at venues such as the Bolshoi, Maly and Rachmaninoff Halls of the Moscow Conservatory, as well as the Moscow International House of Music.
The ARM's repertoire includes works from C. Monteverdi and G. Schutz to G. Mahler and A. Schoenberg. Under the direction of Ivan Nikiforchin, the capella has performed a number of Russian premieres of orchestral scores by O. Respighi, P. Hindemith, V. Lutoslavsky and J. Finzi.
A special place in the repertoire is occupied by the music of Russian composers of the XX–XXI centuries, such as Nikolai Myaskovsky, Dmitry Shostakovich, Boris Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Peiko, Moses Weinberg, Revol Bunin, Gavriil Popov, Georgy Sviridov, Galina Ustvolskaya and Yuri Abdokov. Ivan Nikiforchin also performs chamber and orchestral transcriptions by Rudolf Barshay.
He collaborates with Yuri Abdokov's International Creative Workshop Terra Musica (Russia — Germany — Italy), where he participated in recording chamber and orchestral scores by Herman Galynin and choral works by A. K. Lyadov. These recordings were released by the British company Toccata-Classics. London.
Ivan Nikiforchin directs orchestra subscriptions at the Moscow International House of Music and the Moscow Philharmonic. He performs with the country's leading orchestras, including the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia, the Russian National Orchestra, the Russian National Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Tchaikovsky Grand Symphony Orchestra and others.
For his interpretations of Russian chamber and orchestral music of the 20th century, he was awarded the International Prize. Boris Tchaikovsky (2019), the award of the Foundation "Creating the Future" by V. Zubkov, Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors (2020) and twice became the winner of the International Prize "Pure Sound": I prize — for the anthology of chamber and orchestral scores by German Galynin; II Prize — for the complete choral works by A. Lyadov.
A CD with music by German Galynin, recorded by Ivan Nikiforchin, was named "Disc of the Year" at Music Web International (2020). He is also the first scholarship holder of the artistic director and chief conductor of the GASO of Tatarstan A. Sladkovsky (2019) and a laureate (II Prize and silver medal). The first Rachmaninov International Conducting Competition (2022).
On March 25, 2025, in the Catherine Hall of the Kremlin's Senate Palace, Ivan Nikiforchin was awarded the Presidential Prize for Young Cultural Figures for his contribution to the development of Russian musical culture. On March 28, 2025, he received the title of the Art Theater Award winner in the Opera nomination for his production of The Snow Maiden at the Bolshoi Theater. On April 15, 2025, he was recognized as the conductor of the Year by the International Professional Award BraVo.
