Alexander Humala

Studied choral conducting at the Belarusian State Academy of Music in Minsk, and symphonic conducting at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Further on, he honed his skills during master courses offered by outstanding teachers such as Collin Metters, Yuri Simonov, and Jorma Panula. In 2010, he received the prestigious Huygens scholarship. As part of the L. Kirkland scholarship programme he also studied culture management at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (2019–2020).
He made his debut in 2003, alongside the chamber orchestra of the Belarusian Academy of Music. In the same year, he appeared with the Symphony Orchestra Young Belarus, followed by an international debut performance with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, and invitation for guest appearances with the Italian Orchestra Giovanile della Saccisica.
In the years 2009 and 2012, as part of the “Gaude Polonia” scholarship programme, he completed his conductor internships at the Wroclaw Opera and at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. In 2014–2016, he was assistant conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, and in the years 2013–2019, he held the post of principal conductor of the Belarusian ensemble Capella Sonorus. From 2017 until 2021, he acted as conductor of the Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra.
He cooperated, inter alia, with the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw, Baltic Philharmonic, Lodz Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra in Haifa, Moscow State Philharmonic Orchestra, Belarusian National Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Saratov and Samara Philharmonic Orchestras. In the artistic season of 2013/2014, he was Martin Brabbins’s assistant during the production of  Alexander Raskatov’s opera Dog’s Heart at the Lyon Opera.
He appeared during the Lucerne Festival (2012, alongside the Festival Orchestra of the Lucerne Academy directed by Péter Eötvös), Summer Festival in Pärnu (2011), where he studied under Neeme Järvi and Paavo Järvi, St Magnus International Festival in Orkney Islands (2011), where he collaborated with ensembles such as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and London Sinfonietta. In 2014, he was Lorin Maazel’s assistant at the Castleton Festival. In 2007, acting in the capacity of the music director of the Minsk Festival Orchestra, he organized several music festivals, including a baroque music festival dedicated to A. Vivaldi, and contemporary music festival, dedicated to young Belarusian and European composers. In 2013, he was principal conductor of one of the most prestigious music festivals in Belarus, Magutny Boza (God Almighty) in Mogilev.
He performed with many outstanding soloists, including Boris Berezovsky, Geneviève Strosser, Marco Blaauw, Szymon Nehring, and others. He conducted concerts with the involvement of world-renowned jazz soloists, including Chick Corea, Brandford Marsalis, Arturo Sandoval and Jamie Cullum.
He was the first prize winner of the J. Vitol International Conducting Competition in Riga in 2009, where he appeared with the Latvian State Academic Symphony Orchestra , with the Latvian National Choir and Radio Choir. During the International Choral Conducting Competition Towards Polyphony, held in 2011 in Wroclaw, he won the first prize as well as all of the additional prizes (audience prize, special prizes awarded by the Italian and German embassies, and special prize for the best interpretation of Polish music). In 2013, he was a finalist of the Young Conductors Competition in St. Petersburg. He received a number of state awards in Belarus, Poland and in the Netherlands.

Photo by Bartek Barczyk