Mikhail Petrenko is one of the most sought-after basses in the world, known for his exceptional operatic performances and recitals. He is a graduate of the St Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire in the class of Professor Minzhilkiev and has awards including diplomas at the third International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition (1998), the first Elena Obraztsova Competition and was a finalist and diploma-winner at the Maria Callas New Verdi Voices Competition, Parma (2000).

He regularly works with world-renowned conductors including Valery Gergiev, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Vladimir Jurowski, Charles Dutoit, Myung Whun Chung, Daniel Harding, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Simon Rattle, Jonathan Nott, Marc Minkowski and Daniel Barenboim appearing at the Wiener Staatsoper, Metropolitan Opera, Netherlands Opera, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, La Scala, and the Aix-en-Provence, Verbier, Salzburg, Lucerne and BBC Proms festivals. Equally established on the concert platform, he has performed concerts and recitals in Amsterdam, Geneva, Rotterdam, San Sebastian, Denmark and Budapest.

Recent concert performances have included Shostakovich Symphony No. 14 with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Alexander Shelley, and with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rachmaninov’s The Bells with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Søndergård, Shostakovich Symphony No. 13 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester with Ingo Metzmacher, and Bluebeard’s Castle at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with Jaap van Zweden. Recent operatic triumphs have included Khovanshchina (Prince Ivan Khovansky) and Nabucco (Zaccaria) at Teatro alla Scala, Boris Godunov (title role) with Grande Théâtre de Genève, Elektra (Oreste) at the Metropolitan Opera, Brander La Damnation de Faust at the Gergiev Festival Rotterdam, Don Giovanni (Leporello) at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, and Leporello in Don Giovanni at the Verbier Festival. Operatic engagements this season include Don Carlo for the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Bluebeards Castle for Teatro dell ‘Opera di Roma.

Mikhail’s many recordings include Die Walküre conducted by Gergiev released on the Mariinsky Label and Gounod's Romeo et Juliette conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin released on Deutsche Grammophon. He added a recording of Rachmaninov’s The Bells with the Berliner Philarmoniker to his discography conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, released on EMI and features as Leporello in the film version of Don Giovanni, (Kasper Holten’s Juan).