Nikolai Kornev was borne in Leningrad. He has graduated from the Choral Music School n.a. M.Glinka and then was admitted and successfully graduated from the Leningrad State Conservatory n.a. Rimsky-Korsakov. During his years in conservatory he studied under supervision of prof. E.Kudrjavtseva and prof. P.Levando.
He worked as a conductor with several amateur and professional choirs and orchestras in Russian and abroad. And, of course, the largest part of his career is connected to his work with St. Petersburg Chamber Choir. He founded the choir in 1977 and remains its director till now.
The choir is the laureate of two national prizes and three international musical competitions. It repertoire contains over 350 concert program, records to over 40 movies and theatrical productions, TV- and radio programs.
Ten CDs of Russian sacred music recorded by Philips Classics are worth mentioning in the first place. The CD of Rakhmaninov’s “Vespers” received the Grammy Award of 1994 as the best record of the year.
Since 1991 N. Kornev and St. Petersburg Chamber Choir are the organizers of the International Fastival of sacred music. In 1998 N. Kornev became the director and leading conductor of State Symphonic Orchestra of St. Petersburg. Often one can see that the efforts of the two groups are combined to bring to life rare and sometimes forgotten pieces by composers of the past and the present.
In 1999 N. Kornev initiated a new tradition of so-called “public concerts” that recreates the great undertaking by A. Sheremetjev’s Choir.