Sergei Slonimsky

He studied composition under Boris Arapov, Vissarion Shebalin and Orest Yevlakhov, polyphony under Nicolai Uspensky and piano under Anna Artobolevskaya, Samari Savshinsky and Vladimir Nielsen.

While the majority of his students were Russian, Slonimsky taught a large percentage of the international composition students at the Conservatory from countries including: Colombia, Korea, China, Italy, Germany, Israel, Iran and the United States.

[1] Slonimsky died in Saint Petersburg on 9 February 2020 after a long illness.

Sergei Slonimsky composed more than a hundred pieces: 5 operas, 2 ballets, 34 symphonies and works in all genres of chamber, vocal, choral, theatre and cinema music, including Pesn' Volnitsy (The Songs of Freedom, for mezzo-soprano, baritone and symphony orchestra based on Russian folk songs, 1962), A Voice from the Chorus, a cantata set to poems by Alexander Blok,[2] Concerto-Buffo, Piano Concerto (Jewish Rhapsody), Cello Concerto, 24 preludes and fugues, etc.

Mostly eclectic, he experimented with a folkloric style as well as with 12-tone techniques and new forms of notations.