Kirill Petrenko Cancels Berlin Philharmonic Appearances Due to Ill Health

Petrenko will be replaced by Dima Slobodeniouk until the end of this month

The Berliner Philharmoniker has announced that its Chief Conductor, Kirill Petrenko, has withdrawn from concerts scheduled for January 29 to 31, 2025, on account of ill health.

These concerts will go ahead nonetheless, and Petrenko will be replaced by the Finnish conductor Dima Slobodeniouk. The programs contain Sibelius's Lemminkäinen Suite and the Elgar Violin Concerto, with soloist Frank Peter Zimmermann.

In the current season, Slobodeniouk will make debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has led ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, among others.

Originally a violinist, Slobodeniouk studied with Olga Parkhomenko at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, and graduated in 2001. It was there that he also took up his conducting studies with Leif Segerstam, Jorma Panula, and Atso Almila.

"It is with great regret that due to health reasons, Kirill Petrenko has to cancel the concerts from 29 to 31 January 2025," the orchestra wrote in a statement. "The Berliner Philharmoniker and Frank Peter Zimmermann are very grateful to Dima Slobodeniouk for agreeing to conduct the concerts at short notice."