Veronika Borisovna Dudarova (Russian: Вероника Борисовна Дударова) (December 5 [O.S. November 22] 1916 – January 15, 2009) was a Soviet and later Russian symphony conductor, the first woman to succeed as symphony conductor in 20th century after success of Marie Gruner with Vienna's Ludwig Morelli Orchestra in 1860s. She became a conductor of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra in 1947, and led this and other orchestras for sixty years. In 1991 she founded the Symphony Orchestra of Russia.[1].
Dudarova was born in Baku to an ethnic Ossetian, formerly aristocratic, family.[2] She attended a school of music in Baku (class of Stephan Strasser), the piano department of the Leningrad Conservatory (1933–1937), and the conductors' department of the Moscow Conservatory (1939–1947).[2]
For thirteen years (1947–1960), Dudarova was a junior conductor at the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra; in 1960 she took over as the principal conductor and led the orchestra until 1989. She led the Symphony Orchestra of Russia from 1991 to 2003, and retained the role of artistic manager of the orchestra until her death in Moscow in January 2009.[2]
In the 1987 documentary, A Woman Is a Risky Bet: Six Orchestra Conductors, directed by Christina Olofson, Dudarova conducts the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and Choir in a performance of Mozart's Requiem.