Mission

The Mariinsky Theatre has always been, and will remain, one of the main symbols of our state and its culture. It is a bearer of the traditions of Russian music culture and a centre of world music culture, the spearhead of the development of the country’s performing arts.

The Theatre is a living organism, developing together with the whole of society and in constant search of new creative ideas. At the present stage of development in society, it promotes the formation of new aesthetic priorities in the arts of opera and ballet, particularly in the field of the Russian repertoire.

In addition to satisfying society’s demand for classical works, the Theatre also forms public taste by introducing spectators to the best achievements of world music theatre. To acquaint its public with these achievements is one of the Mariinsky Theatre’s main tasks, and it is in this way that the state carries out its social mission in the sphere of culture.

A modern, competitive theatre should be ahead of the tastes of society, and introduce its home audiences to world music theatre.

To the foreign spectators who come to St. Petersburg specially to attend the Theatre’s performances and who watch its performances when it is on tour abroad, Mariinsky offers a wide spectrum of the Russian classical legacy and the Mariinsky’s foreign fans come away from these performances imbued with new impressions of the development of the performing arts in Russia.

The Theatre carries out an educative function by performing works rarely found in the repertories of Russian theatres and by inviting cooperation from outstanding soloists, directors and choreographers. 

An inherent part of the Theatre’s activities is the presentation of concerts of symphony and chamber works, and of operas in concert performance, thus acquainting the public with works of all music genres.

Now Mariinsky Theatre has three stages at its disposal, one of them its legendary historic Main Stage, it hopes to fulfill its mission with an even greater degree of success, the second one is New Theatre (Mariinsky II) that should confirm and strengthen the great traditions of the theatre, and Concert Hall of Mariinsky.