Born in 1955 in Moscow, he graduated from the Moscow Conser-vatory (1984) and attended a postgraduate course in composition with Edison Denisov (1991). He won First Prizes at the All-Union Composers’ Competition (1985, for Symphony No. 1 ‘Guernica’) and the ‘Guido d’Arezzo’ International Composers’ Competition (1989, for Ave Maria for 12 soloists, violin, organ and vibraphone). He also received the Grand Prix at the Henri Duttilleux International Compo-sers’ Competition (1996, for Effet de nuit for bass-baritone, clarinet, horn, piano, vibraphone and cello, a setting of Paul Verlain’s epic poem).
He is one of the founding members of the Organizing Committee of the Russian Association for Contemporary Music. In 1990 he founded the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble and became its Artistic director. His works have been featured in the most prestigious festivals such as Frankfurtfest (Germany), ‘Présences’ Festival of Radio France, the Tokyo Summer Festival, and ‘Ensems’ in Spain. His commissions include those from ‘Ensemble Modern’ (Germany), Radio France together with French Institute National de L’Audio-visuel, and the International Festival ‘Tage für Neue Musik Zürich’. His compositions have been performed by the bbc National Orches-tra of Wales, ‘Ensemble Modern’, ‘Ensemble Contrechamps’ (Switzer-land), and the ‘Schönberg-Ensemble’ (the Netherlands). Many of his works are available on cd (Olympia, Le Chant du Monde, Harmonia Mundi, Meldac). In 2005 he was elected President of the Russian Section of the International Society for Contemporary Music.

Selected works: three symphonies, three chamber symphonies, five instrumental concertos, mono-opera Nevermore, works for symphony and chamber orchestra, and for various chamber forces.

Hommage ą Honegger was composed in 2005 for the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble as a tribute to Honegger on the 50th anniversary of his death. The work is about 10 minutes long. Its central image is the motion of a train, which is an allusion to Honegger’s Pacific 231. That’s why the central section of the work has the character of a perpetuum mobile. This motion is a pivot of the composition. As the musical material develops, allusions to the five symphonies by Honegger unexpectedly appear and disappear.

Yuri Kasparov