Born in 1996, Ukrainian musician of Polish origin, he studied choral conducting at the Kharkiv Conservatoire, following by symphonic conducting at the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, graduating with honours. He continued his education at Vienna’s University of Music and Performing Arts in the class of Johannes Wildner. In 2018–23, he lectured at the Academy of Music in Poznań. 

His conducting career developed rapidly and dynamically. In the 2020/21 season he was principal conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Lviv (INSO-Lviv), and in 2020–22 he made guest appearances with the Neue Philharmonie Hamburg. He is currently artistic director of the Katowice Philharmonic and music director of the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, where he made his debut in 2018 in Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles. A few years later, already as director, he prepared new productions of Szymanowski’s King Roger, Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito. He has cooperated with the National Opera in Odesa and the Silesian Opera, where he staged Mozart’s La finta fiardiniera and prepared Puccini’s La rondine. He lectures at the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk. 

He has performed in many European countries, notably with the orchestra of the State Theatre in Brunswick, Prague Symphony, Philharmonie der Nationen and the Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as Polish ensembles such as Sinfonia Varsovia, Sinfonia Iuventus, NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, Baltic Philharmonic, Poznań Philharmonic, and Łódź Philharmonic. 

Yaroslav Shemet’s repertoire goes beyond the canon of symphonic and opera music: he has premiered 60 works of contemporary music. He also works with jazz musicians; in 2018 he conducted a concert as part of the Leopolis Jazz Fest with the Lars Danielsson Group and the INSO-Lviv orchestra. 

In addition to his artistic activities, he shares his knowledge and experience at masterclasses for conductors, including in Poznań, Gdańsk, Lviv, Kyiv, and Kharkiv.