100 Notable Alumni of St. Petersburg State Conservatory

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Born in: Russia
Years: 1840-1893 (aged 53)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1865
Occupations: composertranslatorlibrettistmusic teacherdiarist
Biography: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin.

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Years: 1873-1943 (aged 70)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1882-1885
Occupations: pianistconductorcomposermusicologistvirtuoso
Biography: Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. Early influences of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and other Russian composers gave way to a thoroughly personal idiom notable for its song-like melodicism, expressiveness, dense contrapuntal textures, and rich orchestral colours. The piano is featured prominently in Rachmaninoff's compositional output and he used his skills as a performer to fully explore the expressive and technical possibilities of the instrument.

Dmitri Shostakovich

Born in: Russia
Years: 1906-1975 (aged 69)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1919-1925
Occupations: classical composerdirectorpianistuniversity teachercomposer
Biography: Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer.

Sergei Prokofiev

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1891-1953 (aged 62)
Occupations: pianistcomposerconductor
Biography: Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who later worked in the Soviet Union. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous music genres, he is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. His works include such widely heard pieces as the March from The Love for Three Oranges, the suite Lieutenant Kijé, the ballet Romeo and Juliet—from which "Dance of the Knights" is taken—and Peter and the Wolf. Of the established forms and genres in which he worked, he created—excluding juvenilia—seven completed operas, seven symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas.

Anna Netrebko

Born in: Russia
Years: 1971-.. (age 53)
Occupations: actoropera singerrecording artist
Biography: Anna Yuryevna Netrebko is a Russian and Austrian operatic coloratura soprano who has performed at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera and La Scala.

Eduard Khil

Born in: Russia
Years: 1934-2012 (aged 78)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1960
Occupations: singer
Biography: Eduard Anatolyevich Khil, often anglicized as Edward Hill, was a Soviet-Russian baritone singer.

Sergei Diaghilev

Born in: Russia
Years: 1872-1929 (aged 57)
Occupations: art criticimpresarioentrepreneurchoreographerediting staff
Biography: Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev, also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.

Irina Ponarovskaya

Born in: Russia
Years: 1953-.. (age 71)
Occupations: television presenterpresentersingeractor
Biography: Irina Vitalyevna Ponarovskaya is a Soviet and Russian singer and film actress, popular in the 1980s and the 1990s.

Valery Gergiev

Born in: Russia
Years: 1953-.. (age 71)
Occupations: music directorconductorinternational forum participant
Biography: Valery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is currently general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre and of the Bolshoi Theatre and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg. He was formerly chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and of the Munich Philharmonic.

Clara Rockmore

Born in: Lithuania
Years: 1911-1998 (aged 87)
Occupations: violinistmusiciancomposer
Biography: Clara Reisenberg Rockmore was a Lithuanian classical violin prodigy and a virtuoso performer of the theremin, an electronic musical instrument. She was the sister of pianist Nadia Reisenberg.

George Balanchine

Born in: Russia
Years: 1904-1983 (aged 79)
Occupations: scenographerscreenwriterchoreographerballet masterballet dancer
Biography: George Balanchine was an American ballet choreographer of Georgian origin, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th-century. Styled as the father of American ballet, he co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its artistic director for more than 35 years. His choreography is characterized by plotless ballets with minimal costume and décor, performed to classical and neoclassical music.

Jascha Heifetz

Born in: Lithuania
Years: 1901-1987 (aged 86)
Occupations: music teacherviolinistteacher
Biography: Jascha Heifetz was a Jewish-Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin style in St. Petersburg. Accompanying his parents to escape the violence of the Russian Revolution, he moved to the United States as a teenager, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. Fritz Kreisler, another leading violinist of the twentieth century, said after hearing Heifetz's debut, "We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees."

Mariss Jansons

Born in: Latvia
Years: 1943-2019 (aged 76)
Occupations: conductormusic teacher
Biography: Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons was a Latvian conductor, best known for his interpretations of Mahler, Strauss, and Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Shostakovich. During his lifetime he was often cited as among the world's leading conductors; in a 2015 Bachtrack poll, he was ranked by music critics as the world's third best living conductor. Jansons was long associated with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO; 2003–2019) and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO; 2004–2015) as music director.

Theodoros Currentzis

Born in: Greece
Years: 1972-.. (age 52)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1994-1999
Occupations: music directorconductormusicianactorcomposer
Biography: Teodor Currentzis is a Greek conductor, musician and actor.

Igor Kornelyuk

Born in: Belarus
Years: 1962-.. (age 62)
Occupations: television presentersingerkeyboardistcomposerpresenter
Biography: Igor Yevgenyevich Kornelyuk is a Soviet and Russian musician, singer and composer.

Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov

Born in: Russia
Years: 1883-1946 (aged 63)
Occupations: choir directormilitary personnelconductormusic teachercomposer
Biography: Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov was a Soviet and Russian composer and founder of the Alexandrov Ensemble, who wrote the music for the State Anthem of the Soviet Union, which in 2000 became the national anthem of Russia (with new lyrics). During his career, he also worked as a professor of the Moscow Conservatory, and became a Doctor of Arts. His work was recognized by the awards of the title of People's Artist of the USSR and two Stalin Prizes.

Leon Theremin

Born in: Russia
Years: 1896-1993 (aged 97)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1916
Occupations: physicistinventorcellistmusician
Biography: Lev Sergeyevich Termen, better known as Leon Theremin, was a Russian inventor, most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments and the first to be mass-produced. He also worked on early television research. His secret listening device, "The Thing", hung for seven years in plain view in the United States ambassador's Moscow office and enabled Soviet agents to eavesdrop on secret conversations.

Dimitri Tiomkin

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1894-1979 (aged 85)
Occupations: composerconductorfilm score composerfilm producermusic arranger
Biography: Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin was a Russian and American film composer and conductor. Classically trained in Saint Petersburg before the Bolshevik Revolution, he moved to Berlin and then New York City after the Russian Revolution. In 1929, after the stock market crash, he moved to Hollywood, where he became best known for his scores for Western films, including Duel in the Sun, Red River, High Noon, The Big Sky, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Rio Bravo, and Last Train from Gun Hill.

Sergei Roldugin

Born in: Russia
Years: 1951-.. (age 73)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1978
Occupations: conductorcellistmusic teacherbusinessperson
Biography: Sergei Pavlovich Roldugin is a Russian cellist and businessman, based in St Petersburg. He is a close friend of Vladimir Putin. He has been implicated in several money laundering and offshore wealth schemes for Russian elites. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union sanctioned Roldugin.

Grigory Sokolov

Born in: Russia
Years: 1950-.. (age 74)
Occupations: pianistmusic teacher
Biography: Grigory Lipmanovich Sokolov is a Russian pianist with Spanish citizenship. He is among the most esteemed of living pianists, his repertoire spanning composers from the Baroque period such as Bach, Couperin or Rameau up to Schoenberg and Arapov. He regularly tours Europe (excluding the UK) and resides in Italy.

Elena Obraztsova

Born in: Russia
Years: 1939-2015 (aged 76)
Occupations: opera singeropera directormusic teacheractor
Biography: Elena Vasilyevna Obraztsova was a Soviet and Russian mezzo-soprano. She was awarded the People's Artist of the USSR in 1976 and Hero of Socialist Labour in 1990.

Maria Yudina

Born in: Russia
Years: 1899-1970 (aged 71)
Occupations: music teacherpianistclassical pianist
Biography: Maria Veniaminovna Yudina was a Soviet pianist.

Sergey Boyarskiy

Born in: Russia
Years: 1980-.. (age 44)
Occupations: guitaristactorpianistsingermember of the State Duma
Biography: Sergey Boyarsky is a Russian political figure, deputy of the 7th and 8th State Dumas convocations.

Anatoly Lyadov

Born in: Russia
Years: 1855-1914 (aged 59)
Occupations: classical composercomposeruniversity teacherpedagoguemusic teacher
Biography: Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov was a Russian composer, teacher and conductor.

Yuri Temirkanov

Born in: Russia
Years: 1938-2023 (aged 85)
Occupations: music teacheropera directorconductor
Biography: Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov was a Soviet and Russian conductor, People's Artist of the USSR.

Yevgeny Mravinsky

Born in: Russia
Years: 1903-1988 (aged 85)
Occupations: conductormusic teacher
Biography: Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Mravinsky was a Soviet and Russian conductor, pianist, and music pedagogue; he was a professor at Leningrad State Conservatory.

Mikhail Kuzmin

Born in: Russia
Years: 1872-1936 (aged 64)
Occupations: writerpoettranslatorcomposerlinguist
Biography: Mikhail Alekseevich Kuzmin was a Russian poet, musician and novelist, a prominent contributor to the Silver Age of Russian Poetry.

Andrey Petrov

Years: 1930-2006 (aged 76)
Occupations: choreographercomposerfilm score composer
Biography: Andrey Pavlovich Petrov was a Soviet and Russian composer. He was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1980. Andrey Petrov is known for his music for numerous classic Soviet films such as Walking the Streets of Moscow, Beware of the Car, and Office Romance.

Efrem Zimbalist

Born in: Russia
Years: 1889-1985 (aged 96)
Occupations: university teachercomposerconductormusic teacherviolinist
Biography: Efrem Zimbalist was a Russian and American concert violinist, composer, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music.

Nikolai Myaskovsky

Born in: Poland
Years: 1881-1950 (aged 69)
Occupations: university teachermusic teachercomposermusicologistpedagogue
Biography: Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky, was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the Soviet Symphony". Myaskovsky was awarded the Stalin Prize five times.

Mark Taimanov

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1926-2016 (aged 90)
Occupations: pianistchess playeractorengineernon-fiction writer
Biography: Mark Evgenievich Taimanov was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific chess author, Taimanov was awarded the title of Grandmaster in 1952 and in 1956 won the USSR Chess Championship. He was a World Championship Candidate in 1953 and 1971, and several opening variations are named after him. Taimanov was also a world-class concert pianist.

Heinrich Neuhaus

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1888-1964 (aged 76)
Occupations: musicologistpianistuniversity teachermusic teacher
Biography: Heinrich Gustav Neuhaus was a Russian pianist and teacher. Part of a musical dynasty, he grew up in a Polish-speaking household. He taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1922 to 1964. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1956).

Anton Arensky

Born in: Russia
Years: 1861-1906 (aged 45)
Occupations: pianistuniversity teacherconductormusic teachercomposer
Biography: Anton Stepanovich Arensky was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music.

Neeme Järvi

Born in: Estonia
Years: 1937-.. (age 87)
Occupations: conductor
Biography: Neeme Järvi is an Estonian American conductor.

Nathan Milstein

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1902-1992 (aged 90)
Occupations: violinist
Biography: Nathan Mironovich Milstein was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.

Semyon Bychkov

Born in: Russia
Years: 1952-.. (age 72)
Occupations: conductormusic teacher
Biography: Semyon Mayevich Bychkov is a Soviet-born conductor. He currently holds the position of chief conductor and artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic.

Nikita Bogoslovsky

Born in: Russia
Years: 1913-2004 (aged 91)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1934
Occupations: television presenterconductorradio personalitycomposerpresenter
Biography: Nikita Vladimirovich Bogoslovsky was a Soviet and Russian composer. Author of more than 300 songs, 8 symphonies (1940–1991), 17 operettas and musical comedies, 58 soundtracks, and 52 scores for theater productions. Many of his songs were made for film.

Oleg Karavaychuk

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1927-2016 (aged 89)
Occupations: pianistconductorcomposerfilm score composer
Biography: Oleg Nikolayevich Karavaichuk was a Soviet and Russian composer, author of music for many films and theater performances.

Tugan Sokhiev

Born in: Russia
Years: 1977-.. (age 47)
Occupations: music directorconductor
Biography: Tugan Taymurazovich Sokhiev is a Russian conductor.

Vladimir Martynov

Born in: Russia
Years: 1946-.. (age 78)
Occupations: music teachermusicologistcomposer
Biography: Vladimir Ivanovich Martynov is a Russian composer, known for his compositions in the concerto, orchestral music, chamber music, and choral music genres.

Boris Eifman

Born in: Russia
Years: 1946-.. (age 78)
Occupations: ballet masterchoreographer
Biography: Boris Eifman is a Russian choreographer and artistic director. He has done more than fifty ballet productions.

Anna Plisetskaya

Born in: Russia
Years: 1971-.. (age 53)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1993-1996
Occupations: choreographerballerinaactor
Biography: Anna Alexandrovna Plisetskaya is a Russian ballerina, actress and producer.

Nicolas Slonimsky

Born in: Russia
Years: 1894-1995 (aged 101)
Occupations: pianistlecturercomposerlexicographermusic critic
Biography: Nicolas Slonimsky, born Nikolai Leonidovich Slonimskiy (Russian: Никола́й Леони́дович Слoнимский), was a Russian-born American musicologist, conductor, pianist, and composer. Best known for his writing and musical reference work, he wrote the Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns and the Lexicon of Musical Invective, and edited Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians.

Vasily Petrenko

Born in: Russia
Years: 1976-.. (age 48)
Occupations: conductor
Biography: Vasily Eduardovich Petrenko is a Russian-British conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the European Union Youth Orchestra and music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Viktoriya Tokareva

Born in: Russia
Years: 1937-.. (age 87)
Occupations: editing staffwriterscreenwriter
Biography: Viktoriya Samuilovna Tokareva is a Soviet and Russian screenwriter and short story writer. Her work has been translated into English and is available in several anthologies as well as in The Talisman and Other Stories - a book of Tokareva's short stories translated by Rosamund Bartlett. She lives in Moscow, where she continues to write.

Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi

Born in: Russia
Years: 1907-1979 (aged 72)
Occupations: pianistcomposerpoliticianfilm score composer
Biography: Vasily Pavlovich Solovyov-Sedoi was a Soviet classical composer and songwriter who was born and died in Leningrad.

Leo Ornstein

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1893-2002 (aged 109)
Occupations: pianistcomposerpedagoguemusic teacher
Biography: Leo Ornstein was an American experimental composer and pianist of the early twentieth century. His performances of works by avant-garde composers and his own innovative and even shocking pieces made him a cause célèbre on both sides of the Atlantic. The bulk of his experimental works were written for piano.

Alexander Gretchaninov

Born in: Russia
Years: 1864-1956 (aged 92)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1893
Occupations: music teachercomposerconductor
Biography: Alexander Tikhonovich Gretchaninov was a Russian Romantic composer.

Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov

Born in: Russia
Years: 1859-1935 (aged 76)
Occupations: musicologistconductorcomposermusic teacher
Biography: Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov was a Russian and Soviet composer, conductor and teacher. His music ranged from the late-Romantic era into the 20th century era.

Mischa Elman

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1891-1967 (aged 76)
Occupations: musicianviolinist
Biography: Mischa Elman (Russian: Михаил Саулович Эльман; January 20, 1891 – April 5, 1967) was a Russian-American violinist famed for his passionate style, beautiful tone, and impeccable artistry and musicality.

Sergei Bortkiewicz

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1877-1952 (aged 75)
Occupations: pianistclassical composer
Biography: Sergei Bortkiewicz; 28 February 1877 [O.S. 16 February] – 25 October 1952) was a Romantic composer and pianist. He moved to Vienna in 1922 and became a naturalized Austrian citizen in 1926.

Concordia Antarova

Born in: Poland
Years: 1886-1959 (aged 73)
Occupations: music teacheropera singerwriter
Biography: Concordia Antarova was a Russian contralto who starred in the Bolshoi Theater for more than twenty years. After her singing career ended, she wrote theosophical texts. She was recognized as an Honored Artist of the RSFSR in 1933.

Vladimir Sofronitsky

Born in: Russia
Years: 1901-1961 (aged 60)
Occupations: pianistmusic teacher
Biography: Vladimir Vladimirovich Sofronitsky was a Soviet-Russian classical pianist, best known as an interpreter of Alexander Scriabin and Frédéric Chopin. His daughter is the Canadian pianist Viviana Sofronitsky.

Yuri Khanon

Born in: Russia
Years: 1965-.. (age 59)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1988
Occupations: writerpianistcomposerbreederfilm score composer
Biography: Yuri Khanon is a pen name of Yuri Feliksovich Soloviev-Savoyarov, a Russian composer. Prior to 1993, he wrote under a pen name Yuri Khanin, but later transformed it into Yuri Khanon, spelling it in a pre-1918 Russian style as ХанонЪ. Khanon was born on June 16, 1965, in Leningrad. In 1988, he became a laureate of the European Film Awards (Felix Award), and in 1989, he won the Nika Award, a Russian cinematographic award. Due to his numerous concerts throughout Russia, as well as to TV and cinema appearances, Khanon reached the peak of his popularity in 1988–1992, but in 1993, decided to stop performing in public.

Alexander Tcherepnin

Born in: Russia
Years: 1899-1977 (aged 78)
Occupations: pianistuniversity teachercomposerfilm score composermusic theorist
Biography: Alexander Nikolayevich Tcherepnin was a Russian-born composer and pianist.

Jāzeps Vītols

Born in: Latvia
Years: 1863-1948 (aged 85)
Occupations: pianistuniversity teacherconductormusic criticcomposer
Biography: Jāzeps Vītols was a Latvian composer, pedagogue and music critic. He is considered one of the fathers of Latvian classical music.

Andre Kostelanetz

Born in: Russia
Years: 1901-1980 (aged 79)
Occupations: conductorradio personalitymusic arrangercomposerbandleader
Biography: Andre Kostelanetz was a Russian-born American popular orchestral music conductor and arranger who was one of the major exponents of popular orchestra music.

Sergei Slonimsky

Born in: Russia
Years: 1932-2020 (aged 88)
Occupations: university teacherpianistcomposerfilm score composermusic teacher
Biography: Sergei Mikhailovich Slonimsky was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist and musicologist.

Felix Blumenfeld

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1863-1931 (aged 68)
Occupations: pianistconductorprofessorpedagogueclassical composer
Biography: Felix Mikhailovich Blumenfeld was a Russian and Soviet composer, conductor of the Imperial Opera St-Petersburg, pianist, and teacher.

Leonid Desyatnikov

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1955-.. (age 69)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1978
Occupations: film score composercomposer
Biography: Leonid Arkadievich Desyatnikov is a Russian composer who first made a reputation with a number of film scores, then achieving greater fame when his controversial opera The Children of Rosenthal was premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Olga Borodina

Born in: Russia
Years: 1963-.. (age 61)
Occupations: opera singer
Biography: Olga Vladimirovna Borodina is a leading mezzo-soprano, known for her roles in Russian operas at her home company, the Mariinsky Theatre, and for her international performing and recording career in a varied repertoire.

Emil Młynarski

Born in: Lithuania
Years: 1870-1935 (aged 65)
Occupations: conductorcomposermusic teacherviolinist
Biography: Emil Szymon Młynarski was a Polish conductor, violinist, composer, and pedagogue.

Yevgeny Brusilovsky

Born in: Russia
Years: 1905-1981 (aged 76)
Occupations: composermusic teacher
Biography: Yevgeny Grigoryevich Brusilovsky was a Soviet and Russian composer who settled in Kazakhstan. He wrote the first Kazakh opera, co-wrote the music for the anthem of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, and was a People's Artist of the Kazakh SSR.

Joseph Schillinger

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1895-1943 (aged 48)
Occupations: music theoristmusicologistcomposermusic teacher
Biography: Joseph Moiseyevich Schillinger was a composer, music theorist, and composition teacher who originated the Schillinger System of Musical Composition. He was born in Kharkov, in the Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kharkiv, Ukraine) and died in New York City.

Viktor Kosenko

Born in: Russia
Years: 1896-1938 (aged 42)
Occupations: pianistcomposer
Biography: Viktor Stepanovych Kosenko was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, and educator. He was regarded by his contemporaries as a master of lyricism.

Fyodor Stravinsky

Born in: Belarus
Years: 1843-1902 (aged 59)
Occupations: actoropera singer
Biography: Fyodor Ignatievich Stravinsky, 20 June [O.S. 8 June] 1843, estate Novy Dvor (Aleksichi), Rechitsky Uyezd, Minsk Governorate – 4 December [O.S. 21 November] 1902) was a Russian bass opera singer and actor. He was the father of Igor Stravinsky and the grandfather of Théodore Strawinsky and Soulima Stravinsky.

Irina Bogacheva

Born in: Russia
Years: 1939-2019 (aged 80)
Occupations: music teacheropera singer
Biography: Irina Petrovna Bogacheva was a Russian mezzo-soprano at the Mariinsky Theatre and a professor of voice at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Trained in Leningrad and at La Scala in Milan, she performed leading roles of the Russian and Italian repertoire at major international opera houses. Dmitri Shostakovich composed his Six Poems by Marina Tsvetayeva for her.

Igor Luchenok

Born in: Belarus
Years: 1938-2018 (aged 80)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1965
Occupations: music teachercomposerfilm score composer
Biography: Igor Mikhailovich Luchenok was a Belarusian composer, People's Artist of the Byelorussian SSR (and People's Artist of the USSR), and chairman of the Belarusian Union of Composers.

Leonid Kreutzer

Born in: Russia
Years: 1884-1953 (aged 69)
Occupations: conductorpianist
Biography: Leonid Kreutzer was a classical pianist.

Vasily Safonov

Born in: Russia
Years: 1852-1918 (aged 66)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1878-1880
Occupations: pianistconductorclassical pianistmusic teacherpedagogue
Biography: Vasily Ilyich Safonov, also known as Wassily Safonoff, was a Russian pianist, teacher, conductor and composer.

Samuel Maykapar

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1867-1938 (aged 71)
Occupations: music teacherpianistcomposer
Biography: Samuel Moiseyevich Maykapar was a Russian romantic composer, pianist, professor of music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and author of a number of piano practice pieces.

Nikolai Tcherepnin

Born in: Russia
Years: 1873-1945 (aged 72)
Occupations: pianistconductorchoreographermusic teachercomposer
Biography: Nikolai Nikolayevich Tcherepnin was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in Saint Petersburg and studied under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He conducted for the first Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.

Yuri Simonov

Born in: Russia
Years: 1941-.. (age 83)
Occupations: conductormusic teacher
Biography: Yuri Ivanovich Simonov is a Russian conductor. He studied at the Leningrad Conservatory under Nikolai Rabinovich, and was later an assistant conductor to Yevgeny Mravinsky with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra.

Arthur Lourié

Born in: Belarus
Years: 1892-1966 (aged 74)
Occupations: musicologistmusic criticcomposer
Biography: Arthur-Vincent Lourié, born Naum Izrailevich Luria, later changed his name to Artur Sergeyevich Luriye (Russian: Артур Серге́евич Лурье) (14 May 1892 – 12 October 1966) was a Russian composer, writer, administrator, and musical agent. Lourié played an important role in the earliest stages of the organization of Soviet music after the 1917 Revolution but later went into exile. His music reflects his close connections with contemporary writers and artists, and also his close relationship with Igor Stravinsky.

Daniil Shafran

Born in: Russia
Years: 1923-1997 (aged 74)
Occupations: music teachermusiciancellist
Biography: Daniil Borisovich Shafran was a Soviet Russian cellist.

Thomas de Hartmann

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1885-1956 (aged 71)
Occupations: pianistvisual artistcomposerfilm score composer
Biography: Thomas Alexandrovich de Hartmann was a Ukrainian-born composer, pianist and professor of composition.

Gerard Vasilyev

Born in: Russia
Years: 1935-.. (age 89)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1967
Occupations: singeractor
Biography: Gerard Vyacheslavovich Vasilyev is a Soviet and Russian singer and actor, People's Artist of the RSFSR, President of the Foundation for the Conservation and Development of the operetta genre, president of competition for young artists of operetta OperettaLand.

Gavriil Musicescu

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1847-1903 (aged 56)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1871-1872
Occupations: music teachercomposerconductor
Biography: Gavriil Musicescu was a Romanian composer, conductor and musicologist, father of the pianist and musical pedagogue Florica Musicescu.

Ossip Gabrilowitsch

Born in: Russia
Years: 1878-1936 (aged 58)
Occupations: pianistcomposerconductor
Biography: Ossip Salomonovich Gabrilowitsch was a Russian-born American pianist, conductor and composer.

Afrasiyab Badalbeyli

Born in: Azerbaijan
Years: 1907-1976 (aged 69)
Occupations: music criticlibrettistconductorcomposermusicologist
Biography: Afrasiyab Badal bey oghlu Badalbeyli was a Soviet Azerbaijani composer, with noble Iranian origins (he was the descendant of Bahman Mirza and Abbas Mirza," conductor and music critic, author of the music and libretto of Giz Galasi (The Maiden Tower), the first Azerbaijani ballet and the first ballet in the Middle East.

Maximilian Steinberg

Born in: Lithuania
Years: 1883-1946 (aged 63)
Occupations: university teacherconductorchoreographermusic teachercomposer
Biography: Maximilian Osseyevich Steinberg was a Russian composer of classical music.

Sergei Stadler

Born in: Russia
Years: 1962-.. (age 62)
Occupations: conductorviolinist
Biography: Sergei Stadler is a Russian violinist and conductor. He is currently Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Saint Petersburg Symphony Orchestra.

Heino Eller

Born in: Estonia
Years: 1887-1970 (aged 83)
Occupations: music teacherviolinistcomposer
Biography: Heino Eller was an Estonian composer and pedagogue, known as the founder of contemporary Estonian symphonic music.

Veronika Dzhioeva

Born in: Georgia
Years: 1979-.. (age 45)
Occupations: opera singer
Biography: Veronika Dzhioeva is a South Ossetian operatic soprano singer.

Mikhail Gnesin

Born in: Russia
Years: 1883-1957 (aged 74)
Occupations: music teachercomposerprofessor
Biography: Mikhail Fabianovich Gnessin was a Russian Jewish composer and teacher. Gnessin's works The Maccabeans and The Youth of Abraham earned him the nickname the "Jewish Glinka".

Nadezhda Rimskaya-Korsakova

Born in: Russia
Years: 1848-1919 (aged 71)
Occupations: pianistcomposer
Biography: Nadezhda Nikolayevna Rimskaya-Korsakova was a Russian pianist and composer as well as the wife of composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. She was also the mother of Russian musicologist Andrey Rimsky-Korsakov.

Yuri Shaporin

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1887-1966 (aged 79)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1913-1918
Occupations: university teachercomposerconductorfilm score composermusic teacher
Biography: Yuri Alexandrovich Shaporin, PAU, was a Soviet composer.

Gavriil Popov

Born in: Russia
Years: 1904-1972 (aged 68)
Occupations: classical composer
Biography: Gavriil Nikolayevich Popov was a Soviet composer.

Miroslav Kultyshev

Born in: Russia
Years: 1985-.. (age 39)
Occupations: pianist
Biography: Miroslav Kultyshev is a Russian classical pianist and was awarded second prize at the 2007 International Tchaikovsky Competition (no first prize was awarded).

Rudolf Tobias

Born in: Estonia
Years: 1873-1918 (aged 45)
Occupations: conductorcomposerchoir directormusic teacher
Biography: Rudolf Tobias was the first Estonian professional composer, as well as a professional organist. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. His compositions include among others piano works, string quartets and an oratorio, Des Jona Sendung (Jonah's Mission) (1908, revised and premiered 1909, later reconstructed by Vardo Rumessen).

Joseph Achron

Born in: Lithuania
Years: 1886-1943 (aged 57)
Occupations: composermusic teacher
Biography: Joseph Yulyevich Achron, also seen as Akhron was a Russian-born Jewish composer and violinist, who settled in the United States. His preoccupation with Jewish elements and his desire to develop a "Jewish" harmonic and contrapuntal idiom, underscored and informed much of his work. His friend, the composer Arnold Schoenberg, described Achron in his obituary as "one of the most underrated modern composers".

Tõnu Kaljuste

Born in: Estonia
Years: 1953-.. (age 71)
Occupations: conductorchoir director
Biography: Tõnu Kaljuste is an Estonian conductor.

Alfrēds Kalniņš

Born in: Latvia
Years: 1879-1951 (aged 72)
Occupations: conductorcomposer
Biography: Alfrēds Bruno Jānis Kalniņš was a Latvian composer, organist, pedagogue, music critic and conductor; the founder of national Latvian opera. Kalniņš is primarily remembered for his national opera Baņuta (1920).

Miina Härma

Born in: Estonia
Years: 1864-1941 (aged 77)
Occupations: choir directorconductororganistmusic teachercomposer
Biography: Miina Härma was an Estonian composer. She was the second Estonian musician with higher education.

Yakiv Stepovy

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1883-1921 (aged 38)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1902-1909
Occupations: music criticmusic directormusic teachercomposerpedagogue
Biography: Yakiv Stepanovych Stepovy was a Ukrainian composer, music teacher, and music critic.

Philippe Hirschhorn

Born in: Latvia
Years: 1946-1996 (aged 50)
Occupations: violinist
Biography: Philippe Hirschhorn was a violinist. He won the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in 1967. A citizen of the Soviet Union, he was born in Riga, Latvia and first studied at Darsin music school in Riga with Waldemar Sturestep, later he studied with Michael Waiman at the Conservatoire of St. Petersburg.

Meliton Balanchivadze

Born in: Georgia
Years: 1862-1937 (aged 75)
Occupations: composeropera singer
Biography: Meliton Balanchivadze was a Georgian opera singer, composer and a member of Georgia's cultural scene, both under the Russian Empire and during the country's independence. Two of his sons, George and Andria, had illustrious careers, the former as a pioneering choreographer in the United States, and the latter as Soviet Georgia's leading classical composer.

Alexander Knaifel

Born in: Uzbekistan
Years: 1943-.. (age 81)
Enrolled in St. Petersburg State Conservatory: Studied in 1963-1967
Occupations: composer
Biography: Alexander Aronovich Knaifel is a Soviet composer known for his operas The Ghost of Canterville and Alice in Wonderland as well as for his music for cinema.

Anna Yesipova

Born in: Russia
Years: 1851-1914 (aged 63)
Occupations: music teacherpianistuniversity teacher
Biography: Anna Yesipova was a prominent Russian pianist. Her name is cited variously as Anna Esipova; Anna or Annette Essipova; Anna, Annette or Annetta Essipoff; Annette von Essipow; Anna Jessipowa.

Cyrillus Kreek

Born in: Estonia
Years: 1889-1962 (aged 73)
Occupations: music teachercomposerconductor
Biography: Cyrillus Kreek was an Estonian composer.