Mikhail Alperin

Born in Ukraine in 1956, jazz pianist Mikhail Alperin grew up in rural Moldavia before finishing his classical training in 1976 and embarking on a path as an independent composer and arranger. He established one of Moldavia’s earliest jazz ensembles in 1980, gradually weaving strands of traditional Russian music into his compositions over the ensuing years. Alperin subsequently joined forces with Arkady Shilkloper, the horn player affiliated with both the Bolshoi Theatre and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra; together they received worldwide recognition in 1989 through the ECM album Waves of Sorrow. The next year the pair expanded into the Moscow Art Trio by adding vocalist and clarinetist Sergeij Starostin, releasing Folk Dreams in 1995. In that same year Alperin also coordinated joint appearances that brought together the Bulgarian women’s choir Angelite and the Tuvan vocal ensemble Huun Huur-Tu.