Valery Abisalovich Gergiev Russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев(born Moscow, 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company director of Ossetian birth. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Valery Gergiev is the artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.