| Lygia O’Riordan was born in Ireland
and studied at the Budapest Liszt Academy. She then studied with Gennadij
Rozhdestvensky at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
Following her studies she founded the first independent and
international orchestra, Ensemble XXI, in the USSR and therefore the first in
Russia since the 1917 revolution. Lygia O’Riordan has conducted the world premieres of
works by composers such as Paert, Kerry,
Sermilä, Krivitsky, Shepherd, Siirala and others. She
conducted the first Messiah beyond the Urals.
Her achievement has been recognised by the Irish American Cultural Institute with
the Award for "Outstanding work by an Irish Musician
abroad."
| 
