Alexey Shor
Alexey Shor is an American composer. He is the Composer-in-Residence for the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, and an associate composer at the Yehudi Menuhin School. In 2018 he was awarded an honorary professorship at the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory.
Biography[edit]
Alexey Shor was born in Kiev in 1970. After the Chernobyl disaster, he moved to Moscow, where he graduated from a mathematical magnet school and studied at the Department of Mechanics and Mathematics at the Moscow State University.
In 1991, he emigrated to Israel with his parents. Subsequently, he moved to the US for his graduate studies and obtained a PhD in mathematics in 1996. He worked as a mathematician until 2016 (geometry, dynamic systems).[1]
Since he was a child, Alexey loved classical music. He tried his hand at composing in 2012 and started writing short pieces as a hobby. One day his friend, viola player David Aaron Carpenter saw one of his scores on Alexey's desk. He loved Shor's piece.[2]
Alexey's works have been showcased in some of the world's most renowned concert venues, such as the Wiener Musikverein, Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Great Hall of Moscow State Conservatory, St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre,[3] the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow, The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Munich's Gasteig, London's Wigmore Hall, Rome's Teatro Argentina, among others.[4]
Shor's scores have been published by esteemed publishers such as Breitkopf & Härtel, Universal Edition and P. Jurgenson.[5] His compositions have been featured on CDs released by major labels including Warner Classics, DECCA, Sony Classics, Delos, Berlin Classics, and Melodiya.[5]
Performances featuring his music have been aired on platforms like Medici.tv, Mezzo, and Euronews. The overture to his ballet, “Crystal Palace,” was performed at the 40th Gramophone Classical Music Awards event in London. In 2019, a documentary about Alexey Shor was showcased on Medici.tv.[6]
Shor's works have been performed by many internationally acclaimed soloists and ensembles, such as (in alphabetical order) Behzod Abduraimov, Salvatore Accardo, Ray Chen, Steven Isserlis, Clara-Jumi Kang, Evgeny Kissin, Denis Kozukhin, Shlomo Mintz, Mikhail Pletnev, Gil Shaham, Yeol Eum Son, Yekwon Sunwoo, Maxim Vengerov, Nikolaj Znaider and many others.
References[edit]
- ^ "Composer Alexey Shor Makes Significant Impact During Short Career". Classical Post.
- ^ "From mathematician to musician". Times of Malta.
- ^ "Contemporary composer Alexey Shor takes centre stage at InClassica International Music Festival". Euronews. 31 October 2021.
- ^ "Shor in Seoul: The rise of an unusual composer". The Korea Herald. 18 February 2021.
- ^ a b "InClassica Malta International Music Festival Celebrates 10th Anniversary with star-studded line-up". Musical America.
- ^ "Alexey Shor, The Portrait of a Maltese Composer". Medici.tv.