Vakhtang Machavariani

Vakhtang Machavariani (19 February 1951 – 6 May 2025) was a Georgian, Soviet and Russian conductor and composer. The chief conductor of the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra from 1996, he worked with about 80 orchestras, among them prominent symphony orchestras of the world. His compositions include a symphony in memory of his father, Aleksi Machavariani, vocal works based on Shakespeare and Merab Kostava, and a symphonic poem Mariupol.

Life and career Machavariani was born in Tbilisi on 19 February 1951, He conducted the premiere of his father's ballet The Knight in the Tiger's Skin there in 1985.

Awards Machavariani was awarded the Presidential Order of Excellence in 2011. As conductor Machavariani conducted recordings of several of his fathers works, including his ballet The Man in the Panther's Skin in 1983 with the Cinema Orchestra of the SSSR, his ballet Otello in 1986, his First Symphony in 1987, his Third Symphony in 1988 and his Fifth Symphony Symphony in 1990, all of these with the Orchestra of the Kirov Theatre.