Daniel Raiskin

Daniel Raiskin is a conductor and former professional violist known for his broad repertoire. Raised in St. Petersburg, he trained on viola before a chance meeting that redirected him toward the podium. He has since led orchestras in Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Canada. In 2026, Signum Classics released his recording of Shostakovich's Symphonies Nos. 6 and 9. Born in 1970, his father was a musicologist and physicist, and Raiskin studied violin, viola, and conducting at the city's conservatory. At 20, he left the Soviet Union to continue his studies in Amsterdam and later Freiburg. Viola remained his main instrument during this period, but meeting Lev Savich shifted his focus toward conducting. He went on to study with conductors including Mariss Jansons, Neeme Järvi, and Jorma Panula. His conducting career developed through a series of chief-conductor appointments across Europe. From 2005 to 2016, he led the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie in Koblenz, while also serving as chief conductor of the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic Orchestra in Łódź from 2008 to 2015. He later took on principal and guest-conducting roles with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife and the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, both beginning with the 2017-18 season. In August 2018, he became Music Director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and from the 2020-21 season he has served as chief conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra in Bratislava. He was subsequently named chief conductor of the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava, with the permanent appointment beginning in the 2026-27 season. Opera has remained part of his work alongside the symphonic repertoire. His engagements have included a Calixto Bieito production of Carmen with Opera Zuid, Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Minsk Orchestra at the 2011 St. Margarethen Opernfestspiele in Austria, and Shostakovich's The Nose at the Koblenzer Stadttheater. As a guest conductor, he has worked with orchestras including the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Orchestre National de Lyon, and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also regularly worked with youth orchestras in Canada, Estonia, Germany, and elsewhere. His international engagements included appearances with the Slovak Philharmonic at Dubai's InClassica festival in 2021 and 2022, followed by a tour of Japan and Korea in 2023. His recording work includes an early account of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 4 with the Mainz Philharmonic and Rheinische Philharmonie, which attracted attention for its ambitious performance, as well as a recording of cello concertos by Bloch, Korngold, and Goldschmidt with Julian Steckel. Other albums of his appear on the Arte Nova, Oehms, CPO, and Naxos labels. ~ Prince Iwundu