Artist Biography Available in: Nikolai Kornev was born in St. Petersburg in 1948. He received his musical education at the Michael Glinka College of Music, the oldest choir school in Russia. In 1971 Nikolai Kornev obtained the Diploma of Conducting at the Conservatoire of St. Petersburg. Since 1974 Nikolai Kornev has been teaching at the Department of Conducting at the St. Peterburg Academy of Culture and at the N. Rimskij-Korsakow Conservatoire in St. Petersburg. Nikolai Kornev is the founder and artistic director of the already internationally renowned St. Petersburg International Festival of Choir Music.