Mariinsky Theater's Valery Gergiyev Awarded an Order For Merits to the Fatherland

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to award the famous Russian conductor Valery Gergiyev an order for Merits to the Fatherland of the 3rd Class.

Gergiyev is the artistic director and conductor of St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theater, Russia's second largest opera and ballet venue after Moscow's Bolshoi Theater. The award, which he earned for his "outstanding contribution to the musical culture," came in time for his jubilee -- on May 2 Gergiyev turns 50.