Alexei Vinogradov, born in 1946, graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in musicology (1970) and conducting (1976); he was the only pupil of Kyril Kondrashin. He began his career as Principal Conductor of the Grand Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Minsk (Belarus). In 1980 he was Principal Conductor of the Moscow Theatre of Classical Ballet. Since 1991 he has been Principal Conductor of the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble. He conducted Russia’s first concerts devoted exclusively to the works of Iannis Xenakis, Edgar Var?se, György Kurtág and other prominent contemporary composers, as well as numerous concerts dedicated to new music from France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Denmark and Spain. Under his direction the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble has made many successful tours in Russia and all over Europe and has recorded about 40 cds for various labels.