Moscow Conservatory

Bolshoi Hall, the main performance auditorium

The Moscow Conservatory (Russian: Московская Государственная Консерватория им. П.И.Чайковского, Moscow State Conservatory named for P. I. Tchaikovsky) is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St. Petersburg Conservatory, it is one of the leading music universities in the country.

It was co-founded in 1866 by Nikolai Rubinstein (brother of the famous Russian pianist and composer Anton Rubinstein, who founded the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1862) and Prince Nikolai Petrovitch Troubetzkoy.

At its opening, Tchaikovsky was appointed professor of theory and harmony, a post he held until approximately 1878. Since 1940, the conservatory has borne Tchaikovsky's name.

Prior to the Revolution the choral faculty of the conservatory was second to the Moscow Synodal School and Moscow Synodal Choir, but in 1919 both were closed and merged into the choral faculty. Some of the students now listed as being of the conservatory, for example Rachmaninoff, were in fact students of the Synodal School.

Some notable alumni

Valery Afanassiev – pianist Nelly Akopian-Tamarina – pianist Edward Artemyev – composer Vladimir Ashkenazy – pianist, conductor Vladimir Bakaleinikov – violist, teacher, composer, conductor Dmitri Bashkirov – pianist, teacher Yuri Bashmet – violist, conductor Boris Berezovsky – pianist Boris Berman – pianist, teacher Lazar Berman – pianist Đặng Thái Sơn – pianist Heinrich Neuhaus – pianist Stanislav Neuhaus – pianist Vadim Borisovsky – violist, teacher Anatoliy Brandukov – cellist Alexander Chuhaldin – violinist, conductor, composer Tish Daija - Albanian composer Bella Davidovich – pianist Nikolai Demidenko – pianist Edison Denisov – composer Fyodor Druzhinin – violist Youri Egorov – pianist Samuil Feinberg – pianist, composer Yakov Flier – pianist Andrei Gavrilov – pianist Michael L. Geller – composer, violist Emil Gilels – pianist Marina Goglidze-Mdivani – pianist Alexei Gorokhov – violinist, musicologist, teacher Vera Gornostaeva – pianist, teacher Sofia Gubaidulina – composer

Natalia Gutman – cellist Rustem Hayroudinoff – pianist Waleed Howrani – composer, pianist Valentina Igoshina – pianist Ilya Itin - pianist Dmitry Kabalevsky – composer, pianist Olga Kern – pianist Aram Khachaturian – composer Yuri Kholopov – musicologist, music theorist Vladimir Krainev – pianist Tikhon Khrennikov – composer Leonid Kogan – violinist Eduard Kunz – pianist Josef Lhévinne – pianist Rosina Lhévinne – pianist, pedagogue Dong-Hyek Lim – pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja – pianist and teacher Alexei Lubimov – pianist Nikolai Lugansky – pianist Radu Lupu – pianist Dmitry Malikov – pianist Victor Merzhanov – pianist Roman Moiseyev – conductor Alexandre Mogilevsky – violinist Alexander Mosolov – pianist, composer Avni Mula – Albanian singer, composer Shoista Mullodzhanova – Shashmaqam singer Viktoria Mullova – violinist Anahit Nersesyan – pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva – pianist

Lev Oborin – pianist David Oistrakh – violinist Aleksandra Pakhmutova – composer Dmitry Paperno – pianist Nikolai Petrov – pianist Gregor Piatigorsky – cellist Mikhail Pletnev – pianist, composer, conductor Ivo Pogorelić – pianist Viktoria Postnikova – pianist Mikhail Press – violinist Sergei Rachmaninoff – pianist, composer Sviatoslav Richter – pianist Mstislav Rostropovich – cellist and conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky – conductor Aram Satian – composer Alfred Schnittke – composer Rodion Shchedrin – composer and pianist Valery Sigalevitch – pianist Pyotr Slovtsov – tenor and teacher Aleksandr Sokolov – Russian Minister of Culture Viviana Sofronitsky - Pianist Vladimir Spivakov – violinist, conductor Steven Spooner – Pianist Artur Stoyanov-Pianist Robert Stoyanov-Violinist Mykola Suk – pianist Yevgeny Svetlanov – conductor, pianist, composer Viktor Tretiakov – violinist Ibrahim Tukiqi – Albanian singer Mauricio Vallina – pianist Alexander Veprik – composer Eliso Virsaladze – pianist Mikhail Voskresensky – pianist Çesk Zadeja – Albanian composer Igor Zubkovsky – cellist

• Oleg Yanchenko – organ
• Vivian Dow – pianist

Notable current professors

The Moscow Conservatory in 1940

• Yuri Bashmet – viola
• Sergei Dorensky – piano
• Andrei Eshpai – composition
• Vera Gornostayeva – piano
• Alexei Lubimov – pianist
• Victor Merzhanov – piano
• Nikolai Petrov – piano
• Gennady Rozhdestvensky – conductor
• Yuri Slesarev – piano
• Eliso Virsaladze – piano
• Mikhail Voskresensky – piano
• Irina Zhurina – voice

References

• The Moscow Conservatory. Information Booklet. Second Edition. Moscow, 2001. ISBN 5-89598-111-9.
• Moscow Conservatoire. Moscow, 1994. ISBN 5-86419-006-3.
• Moscow Conservatory: Traditions of Music Education, Art, and Science 1866–2006. Moscow: "Moskovskaya Konservatoriya" Publishing House, 2006.
• Loomis, George (April 18, 2001), "Moscow's Great Hall Turns 100", International Herald Tribune{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

See also

• Saint Petersburg Conservatory

External links

• Moscow Conservatory website (in Russian)
• Moscow Conservatory website (in English)