Sergei Pavlenko

born in 1952 in Sumy (Ukraine), he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory (1977). He was also a postgraduate student of Nicolai Sidelnikov there. In 1976–1982 he worked as music director of the famous Taganka Theatre in Moscow, during the directorship of Yuri Liubimov. He had his share in the staging of such masterpieces
as The Master and Margarita (incidental music by Edison Denisov)
and The Government Inspector (music by Alfred Schnittke). He himself wrote music to the production Book of Complaints after Anton Chekhov.
In his compositional work he concentrates on symphonic and chamber-instrumental music. His Pastorale for saxophone quintet won First Prize at the International Competition in Paris. Pavlenko is also a prizewinner of the 1996 Composers’ Competition in Freiburg.
He has received commissions from the International Saxophone Ensemble (directed by Jean-Marie Londeix), the Dutch Clarinet Quartet of Henri Bok, the German ensemble Westdeutsches Hor-nen, the clarinettists Harry Sparnaay (Holland) and Jacques Merrer (France) and the harpsichordist Petia Kaufmann (Switzerland). His works have been performed in Bulgaria, France, Germany, Switzer-land and the United States.

Selected works: Site of the Water for bass and organ; text by Federico Garcia Lorca (1986), Tapestry for flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon (1987), Pastorale for five saxophones (1988), Sinfonia humana for strings (1989), Treversum for six percussions and small orchestra (1992), In the Manner of Gauguin for clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1994), In Imitation of Denisov for bassoon and piano (1994), Romances sans paroles, song-cycle for soprano, clarinet and piano; text by Paul Verlaine (1996), Concerto grosso for violin, viola and orchestra (2000), Some Frontier States for two quarter-tone pianos (2001), Sinful Music for viola and string orchestra (2001), Gloria, concerto for orchestra (2003).