Valery Gergiev is the force behind the success of the Mariinsky Theatre, which encompasses the ballet, orchestra, opera, chorus and Academy of Young Singers. This week he brings the orchestra to George Mason University for an all-Tchaikovsky program that includes Symphony No. 5 and Piano Concerto No. 1 performed by Daniil Trifonov. Gergiev is as well-known worldwide as he is in Russia. As principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra since 2007, he is so admired in Great Britain that he was named conductor of the year by Britain’s Royal Society of Music in 2008 and conductor of the year by the Great Britain Royal Philharmonic Society in 2009.

Truly a giant in his field, Gergiev not only directs one of the world’s orchestras, he is also the artistic director of the Mariinsky Ballet and Opera companies and general director of the Mariinsky Theatre, which has been St. Petersburg’s cultural center since 1783. He oversees and continues to expand the Opera Company’s extensive repertoire. It encompasses the contemporary operas by Prokofiev and Shostakovich and the successful return of Wagner’s operas to the schedule. That accomplished, he plans even more surprises.