The Tale of Tsar Saltan
From 1990 to 2004 Ponkin was both the music director and principal conductor of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation, a division of Moscow Philharmony. In 1996 he obtained the same position at the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre where he produced operas such as Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" and Giuseppe Verdi's "Othello" as well as ballets such as Sergei Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" and Mikhail Bronner's "The Taming of The Shrew" among others which brought him fame and success.