Trained mostly in Russia, conductor and keyboardist Maxim Emelyanychev is a star among his generation of Russian musicians. As a conductor, he is equally expert in mainstream repertory and historically oriented performance.

Emelyanychev was born in Dzerzhinsk, in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in the Soviet Union, on August 28, 1988. His family was musical, and he was enrolled at the Nizhny Novgorod Choral College when he was seven. There he studied piano and conducting from 1995 to 2003. He also took courses at the Balakirev Music College and then, already with a good deal of conducting experience, entered the Moscow State Conservatory and won a place in the class of legendary conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky. He also became interested in the harpsichord and other historical keyboard instruments, taking lessons with Maria Uspenskaya and performing in Moscow's Alta Capella Ensemble. By age 12, Emelyanychev was conducting professionally, and after completing his education, he found himself in demand from both Baroque ensembles and conventional symphony orchestras. He joined the period-instrument group Il Pomo d'Oro in 2011 and became its conductor in 2016, often leading keyboard concertos from the keyboard. He has conducted a steadily growing group of symphony orchestras, including the Veritas Youth Orchestra (which he founded), the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, and the Royal Philharmonic in London. After conducting Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, Spain, in 2014, Emelyanychev has also appeared at various European opera houses. In 2018, he guest-conducted the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for the first time, and the following year, he was named its principal conductor; his contract was soon extended through 2025.

Emelyanychev has made several recordings, conducting the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944 (The Great), on the Linn label in 2019. The following year, he led Il Pomo d'Oro and an all-star cast in a recording for Erato of Handel's opera Agrippina. ~ James Manheim, Rovi