Conductor Daniel Smith will be the first Australian to helm the world famous Mariinsky Orchestra in Saint Petersburg.

Conductor Daniel Smith from Sydney is set to become the first Australian to conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra in three series of concerts this October and December in Saint Petersburg.

Smith, who expressed to Limelight last year his wish to “secure a music director position with a renowned symphony orchestra or opera company in the near future”, has moved a step closer to having his dreams realised with this latest appointment.

Smith will present Mozart’s Symphonies 39, 40 and 41 with the orchestra from October 7-10; from October 11-15 he will conduct a program of Ravel’s music – La Valse, Daphnis et Chloe and Bolero, along with other well-known works from the French Impressionist composer. Smith will also conduct the orchestra in a production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in collaboration with Mariinsky Opera running from December 9-20.

Smith received a personal invitation to conduct from the orchestra’s Artistic Director, Valery Gergiev, after the Russian maestro saw the 31-year-old conduct the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Petersburg Symphony...