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Having come from a background in business and entrepreneurship, Ms. Yakovleva made a commitment to artist management in 2017 and joined Primavera Consulting, where she represents several artists, produces projects and develops cross-cultural initiatives. She has been involved in special events and projects with Mischa Maisky, Bella Davidovich, Olga Peretyatko, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Tan Dun, Lucas Debargue, and Dmitry Masleev. She was also a part of the production team for the documentary Forte, responsible for organizing the shoot in Moscow in 2019.

In 2020, responding to the challenges exposed by the Covid-19 crisis, together with Anastasia Boudanoque, Founder and Managing Director of Primavera Consulting, and Anna Zeiman, Founder of the digital media agency Indadata, Ms. Yakovleva created a new venture, Primavera Digital to help empower artists and performing arts organizations to be mindful of their digital presence, to take control of their digital stage, and to use digital media to turn occasional and passive listeners into actively engaged communities.

Prior to her career change, Ms. Yakovleva worked within the leadership team of Russia’s top private business school SKOLKOVO Moscow School of Management, first as Executive Education Consultant for nuclear energy and steel production companies, then as Program Director of Successors Academy for SKOLKOVO Wealth Transformation Center. Simultaneously, Ms. Yakovleva began to explore the field of talent management, which has been her long-time passion.

She translated and published James Westbrook’s The Century that Shaped the Guitar, the seminal book on the history of the instrument, and launched the Russian edition with a concert at the Moscow State Conservatory, featuring rare 19th century instruments. Shortly thereafter she began to represent Russia’s top classical guitarist, Artyom Dervoed. Since 2015, she has been collaborating with the Moscow Philharmonic Society on the management and production of the Guitar Virtuosi Festival, presenting such superstars as Pepe Romero, Aniello Desiderio, and the Assad Brothers, to name a few. Ms. Yakovleva began her career as a project management and training consultant in the field of hydro energy production. Later, she became an HR executive for JSC RusHydro, Russia’s largest hydropower holding, where she was in charge of analyzing and improving the HR functions of the company. As part of the company’s restructuring, she formed and led the Senior Executive Department.

Ms. Yakovleva graduated from the Higher School of Economics in Moscow in 2001 and went on to earn her Master’s degree in International Human Resource Management from Kingston Business School in London in 2012.

Since 2015 Anastasia Boudanoque has been managing Primavera Consulting LLC, a firm she founded with a focus on producing high-end classical entertainment events and consulting performing arts organizations all over the world. Additionally, Primavera represents a small roster of artists, reinforcing traditional talent management with digital and social media, endorsement opportunities, as well as educational, charitable, and cultural diplomacy initiatives.

Ms. Boudanoque has been involved in the careers of some of the most compelling performers of our time including Lang Lang, Ray Chen, Mischa Maisky, Long Yu, Olga Peretyatko, Julian Rachlin, Daniel Harding, Maxim Vengerov, Robert Trevino, Tan Dun, and Rudolf Buchbinder. As a producer, under the auspices of Columbia Artists (CAMI Music), Ms. Boudanoque organized the 2010 AsianGames Festival in Guangzhou, bringing together Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Sarah Chang, Myung-Whun Chung and the Seoul Philharmonic for an unprecedented musical summit. Her producing credits also include the historic performances of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in Manhattan’s Central Park, celebrating the World Expo 2010, and at the UN General Assembly in 2015, commemorating the 70th anniversary of Allied Powers’ victory over nazism. She has produced five Chinese New Year Gala concerts at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic and brought the Moscow Sretensky Monastery Choir to Beijing for a rare concert of sacred music at the Forbidden City. Ms. Boudanoque has arranged for some these events to be broadcast internationally, increasing their audience to hundreds of thousands.

In 2019, Ms. Boudanoque released her second documentary Forte, which has been licensed for broadcasting on national TV networks in Norway, Finland and New Zealand, screened at the Kennedy Center in Washington D. C., Canada’s National Arts Center, University of Richmond, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony, Boca Raton Festival of the Arts, Cincinnati World Cinema, and other venues. Filmed in eleven international locations, Forte profiles three women who are challenging classical music industry norms by setting their own definition and criteria for success in a genre steeped in tradition. Ms. Boudanoque is a founding board member of the Musicaeterna Foundation of America, the charitable organization supporting musicAeterna Ensemble and Choir, under the artistic leadership of Teodor Currentzis.

Previously, she has served on the board of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy, which she helped establish as a partnership between the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Shanghai Conservatory. In 2008, she spearheaded the creation and launch of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation.

Prior to her tenure at Columbia Artists, Ms. Boudanoque ran the comprehensive arts program of the British Council in St. Petersburg and collaborated with IMG Artists as an independent producer. She graduated with honors from the St. Petersburg State University where she earned a Specialist degree in International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy.