Pavel Petrenko graduated from the Glinka Choral School and the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in St. Petersburg, having specialized in Choral Conducting, Opera and Symphony Conducting.
He has worked as a Choir Master at the Mariinsky Theatre from 2003, also appearing as a Conductor of concert programmes and operas including Karetnikov’s The Mystery of the Apostle Paul, Rodion Shchedrin’s Dead Souls, The Left-Hander, The Little Humpbacked Horse and A Christmas Tale, Dargomyzhsky’s Rusalka, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Mussorgsky’s Salammbô and The Marriage, Stravinsky’s Mavra and Les Noces, Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges, Dvořák’s Rusalka, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve and May Night, Massenet’s Don Quichotte and Berlioz’ Benvenuto Cellini.
From 2004 to 2006, he worked at the theatre “St. Petersburg Chamber Opera”, where he conducted productions of Rita, ou le mari battu and Il campanello di notte by Donizetti, The Falcon by Bortnyansky and Il matrimonio segreto by Cimarosa.
From 2007 to 2010, he was a Guest Conductor at the “Zazerkalye” music theatre for children where he conducted performances of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Rossini’s La Cenerentola and J. Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.
Since 2008 he has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Vyborg Music Theatre-Studio where he conducted the opera productions of Pagliacci by Leoncavallo, Iolanta by Tchaikovsky and Kashchei the Immortal by Rimsky-Korsakov.
Since 2014 he has been a Conductor of the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra and a Guest Conductor of the Yekaterinburg Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.