TATIANA KALINICHENKO
Tatiana Kalinichenko is a leader, co-founder, music director and conductor of the New Era Orchestra (Kyiv, Ukraine).
Tatiana Kalinichenko is a Ukrainian conductor and artistic leader whose career has been shaped by a belief that conducting extends far beyond the podium. For more than fifteen years, as founder and Artistic Director of the New Era Orchestra in Kyiv, she built an orchestra, created an international network around it, initiated collaborations with some of the world’s leading soloists, and introduced Ukrainian audiences to repertoire that had rarely — and in many cases never — been performed in the country before.
At the centre of Kalinichenko’s work has always been a clear artistic mission: to connect Ukraine more closely with the international music world while creating a platform for exceptional Ukrainian musicians and composers.
Only a few years after founding the New Era Orchestra in 2007, Tatiana Kalinichenko set out to build international bridges that would raise the orchestra’s profile far beyond Ukraine. Under her leadership, the orchestra welcomed world-renowned soloists such as Joshua Bell, Gautier Capuçon, Sarah Chang, Avi Avital, and Kit Armstrong. She also spearheaded Ukrainian premieres of works by contemporary composers including John Adams, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, John Tavener, Max Richter, Avner Dorman, and Iannis Xenakis. She also made it a priority to showcase outstanding Ukrainian soloists and composers. Her clear vision and innovative approach drove the orchestra’s rapid growth. A milestone came in 2018, when their debut at the Septembre Musical Montreux & Vevey Festival marked the launch of an ambitious international development campaign.
“Tatiana Kalinichenko is an extraordinarily devoted musician, demonstrating not only innate talent but also unwavering dedication to her craft. Beyond her musical gifts, Ms. Kalinichenko possesses a rare ability to galvanize and lead her colleagues. Her capacity to mobilize, inspire, and carry out ambitious projects to great success continues to serve as a source of inspiration for me.”
Avi Avital
Israeli mandolin soloist
This international outlook was always accompanied by an equally strong commitment to Ukrainian musical culture. Through numerous concerts and projects, Kalinichenko and the New Era Orchestra presented outstanding Ukrainian soloists and composers, bringing their work to wider national and international attention.
Her role in the orchestra went far beyond conducting. She shaped its artistic identity and repertoire, built partnerships with artists and institutions, developed international projects and mobilised the people and resources necessary to make ambitious ideas possible. Many of the orchestra’s milestones were unprecedented in Ukraine, opening new paths both artistically and in the way an independent Ukrainian ensemble could position itself internationally.
“During this time of needless war and violence, my heart goes out to all who are suffering from the ongoing tragedy in Ukraine. I join my fellow artists in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and send my gratitude and support to my friends in the New Era Orchestra and their Maestra Tatiana Kalinichenko, with whom I have performed with great pleasure in Kyiv, Odessa, and Washington, D.C. I send my warmest thoughts to my fellow musicians in Ukraine and sincerely hope we will make music together again in your beautiful country very soon.”
Joshua Bell
Grammy Award-winning violinist
Many of the New Era Orchestra’s achievements have been unprecedented for Ukraine, blazing new trails in both artistic quality and global recognition. The year 2022 was meant to mark the orchestra’s 15th anniversary, with celebratory concerts planned long in advance. Instead, it became the year when musicians joined their nation’s heroic struggle for freedom and democracy—on the cultural front. Their first performance after the full-scale invasion was a benefit concert with Joshua Bell at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., which raised over $350,000 for UNITED24, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s global initiative to support Ukraine. Through these efforts, Ms. Kalinichenko has affirmed the role of music not only as an art form, but as a force for resilience, solidarity, and hope.
“After Ukraine’s victory, a new era will come for Ukraine, Europe and the Free World, and our own New Era Orchestra is so appropriately named to welcome this New Era!”
Anne Bauty, the First Ambassador
of Switzerland to Ukraine
“The work of a lifetime is chosen through passion. It alone drives us toward decisive actions that alter the course of our fate.”
Tatiana Kalinichenko
Tatiana Kalinichenko’s recent engagements and 2026/27 season include conducting The Orchestra Now in Dvořák and the Music of Ukraine at The Fisher Center at Bard, New York, in January 2026, and the opening concert Liberty of the Bouquet Kyiv Stage Festival with the National Presidential Orchestra of Ukraine in August 2026. In May 2024, she worked as Assistant Conductor to Jaap van Zweden.
For now Tatiana Kalinichenko is developing the next international chapter of her career as a conductor, building new relationships with orchestras and institutions while continuing her commitment to the New Era Orchestra and Ukrainian musical culture.
