Peter the Great Music Academy was founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1997 as an institute where young conductors from around the world would learn, advance, and perfect their conducting skills through working with some of the world's best contemporary conductors. The traditions of Mravinsky at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Mariinsky Theatre, the teaching legacy of Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory (mentor of both Yuri Temirkanov and Valery Gergiev) contribute to make this Academy the center of orchestral conducting instruction in the world.