The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational institution located in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. The conservatory offers various degrees including Bachelor of Music Performance, Master of Music and PhD in research.

History

It was co-founded in 1866 as the Moscow Imperial Conservatory by Nikolai Rubinstein and Prince Nikolai Troubetzkoy. It is the second oldest conservatory in Russia after the

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

was appointed professor of theory and harmony at its opening. Since 1940, the conservatory has borne his name.

Choral faculty

Prior to the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...

, the choral faculty of the conservatory was second to the

Moscow Synodal School The Moscow Synodal School (Синодальное училище церковного пения) and the associated Moscow Synodal Choir were the main centre of teaching for Russian Orthodox Church music in Russia prior to dissolution and merger w ...

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 were in fact students of the Synodal School.

Great Hall

The renovation of the hall was completed in 2011.

Some notable graduates

* Valery Afanassiev (b. 1947) – pianist *

Nelly Akopian-Tamarina Nelly Akopian-Tamarina (born in Moscow) is a Russian pianist. Akopian-Tamarina had performed Haydn concertos publicly with orchestras by age 9. She studied with Anaida Sumbatyan at the Moscow Central Music School. At the Moscow Conservatory she w ...

– pianist * Ashot Ariyan (b. 1973) – composer and pianist * Eduard Artemyev (b. 1937) – composer *

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович Ашкена́зи, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He ...

(b. 1937) – pianist, conductor * Vladimir Bakaleinikov (1885-1953) – violist, composer, conductor * Stanisław Barcewicz (1858-1929) – violinist *

Rudolf Barshai Rudolf Borisovich Barshai (russian: Рудольф Борисович Баршай, link=no, September 28, 1924November 2, 2010) was a Soviet and Russian conductor and violist. Life Barshai was born on September 28, 1924, in Stanitsa Labinskay ...

(1924-2010) – violist, conductor * Dmitri Bashkirov (1931-2021) – pianist * Yuri Bashmet (b. 1953) – violist, conductor * Boris Berezovsky (b. 1969) – pianist * Boris Berman (b. 1948) – pianist *

Lazar Berman Lazar Naumovich Berman (russian: Ла́зарь Нау́мович Бе́рман, ''Lazarʹ Naumovič Berman''; February 26, 1930February 6, 2005) was a Soviet Russian classical pianist, Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1988). He was hailed for a ...

(1930-2005) – pianist * Pavel Berman (b. 1970) – violinist, conductor * Vadim Borisovsky (1900-1972) – violist * Anatoliy Brandukov (1859-1930) – cellist * Alexander Chuhaldin (1892-1951)– violinist, conductor, composer * Tish Daija (1926-2003) – Albanian composer *

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(b. 1958) – pianist *

Bella Davidovich Bella Mikhaylovna Davidovich (Бэлла Миха́йловна Давидо́вич; born July 16, 1928) is a Soviet-born American pianist. Biography Davidovich was born in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, into a Jewish family of musicians and began studyi ...

(b. 1928) – pianist * Nikolai Demidenko (b. 1955) – pianist * Edison Denisov (1929-1996) – composer * Vladimir Denissenkov (b. 1956) – accordionist *

Fyodor Druzhinin Fyodor Serafimovich Druzhinin, also Fedor, (russian: Фёдор Серафимович Дружинин; 6 April 1932 in Moscow – 1 July 2007) was a Soviet violist, composer and music teacher. Druzhinin studied viola at the Moscow Central Mus ...

(1932-2007) – violist *

Youri Egorov Youri Aleksandrovich Egorov (russian: Юрий Александрович Егоров; 28 May 1954 – 16 April 1988) was a Soviet and Monegasque classical pianist. Early years Born in Kazan, USSR, Youri Egorov studied music at the Kazan Conser ...

(1954-1988) – pianist * Samuil Feinberg (1890-1962) – pianist, composer * Frank Fernandez (b. 1944) – pianist, composer * Yakov Flier (1912-1977) – pianist *

Andrei Gavrilov Andrei Gavrilov (in Russian Андрей Гаврилов; born September 21, 1955) is a Swiss pianist of Russian background. Early life and music career Andrei Gavrilov was born into a family of artists in Moscow. His father was Vladimir Ga ...

(b. 1955) – pianist * Misha Geller (1937-2007) – composer, violist * Emil Gilels (1916-1985) – pianist *

Marina Goglidze-Mdivani Marina Goglidze-Mdivani ( Georgian: მარინა გოგლიძე-მდივანი; born October 6, 1936 in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, USSR) is a Soviet and Canadian virtuoso pianist of Georgian descent. Biography Marina Goglidze- ...

(b. 1936) – pianist *

Alexei Gorokhov Aleksey Nikolaevich Gorokhov (russian: Алексей Николаевич Горохов; ua, Олексій Миколайович Горохов; February 11, 1927, Moscow - February 3, 1999) was a Soviet violinist who lived most of his profe ...

(1927-1999) – violinist, musicologist * Vera Gornostayeva (1929-2015) – pianist *

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (russian: Софи́я Асгáтовна Губaйду́лина, link=no , tt-Cyrl, София Әсгать кызы Гобәйдуллина; born 24 October 1931) is a Soviet-Russian composer and an established ...

(b. 1931) – composer * Maria Grinberg (1908-1978) – pianist *

Natalia Gutman Natalia Grigoryevna Gutman (russian: Наталья Григорьевна Гутман) (born 14 November 1942 in Kazan), PAU, is a Russian cellist. She began to study cello at the Moscow Music School with R. Sapozhnikov. She was later admitted t ...

(b. 1942) – cellist * Rustem Hayroudinoff – pianist * Andrej Hoteev (b. 1946) – pianist * Waleed Howrani (b. 1948) – composer, pianist * Rinat Ibragimov (1960-2020) – double bassist, conductor *

Valentina Igoshina Valentina Igoshina (born 4 November 1978 in Bryansk, Bryansk Oblast) is a Russian classical pianist. She has won several international piano competitions. Biography Valentina Igoshina began studying piano with her mother, and first took lessons ...

(b. 1978) – pianist * Konstantin Igumnov (1873-1948) – pianist *

Ilya Itin Ilya Itin (born 3 April 1967 in Yekaterinburg) is a Russian concert pianist of international acclaim currently residing in New York City. Early career Music Competition Ilya Itin was the Gold Medalist of the 1996 Leeds International Piano C ...

(b. 1967) – pianist * Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987) – composer, pianist * Olga Kern (b. 1975) – pianist * Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) – composer *

Yuri Kholopov Yuri Nikolaevich Kholopov (russian: link=no, Ю́рий Никола́евич Холóпов, ; August 14, 1932, Ryazan – April 24, 2003, Moscow) was a Russian musicologist and educator. Biography After graduating from Ryazan Music Regional ...

(1932-2003) – musicologist *

Vladimir Khomyakov Vladimir Vladimirovich Khomyakov (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Хомяко́в; born August 6, 1984) is a classical pianist. Early years Vladimir Khomyakov was born in Kirovorgad ( Ukraine) to a family of professional ...

(b. 1984) – pianist *

Tikhon Khrennikov Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov (russian: Тихон Николаевич Хренников; – 14 August 2007) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist, and General Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers (1948–1991), who was also kno ...

(1913-2007) – composer * Igor Khudolei (1940-2001) – pianist * Olga Kiun – pianist * Pavel Klinichev – conductor *

Leonid Kogan Leonid Borisovich Kogan (russian: Леони́д Бори́сович Ко́ган; uk, Леонід Борисович Коган; 14 November 1924 – 17 December 1982) was a preeminent Soviet violinist during the 20th century. Many consider ...

(1924-1982) – violinist * Pavel Kogan (b. 1952) – violinist, conductor *

Evgeni Koroliov Evgeni Alexandrovich Koroliov (russian: Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Королёв; born 1 October 1949, in Moscow) is a Russian classical pianist. Koroliov studied at the Moscow Conservatory. Since 1978 he has been a teacher ...

(b. 1949) – pianist * Serguei Kostiuchenko (b. 1965) – Belarusian conductor *

Ivan Kotov Ivan Ivanovich Kotov (russian: Иван Иванович Котов, ''Ivan Ivanovich Kotov''; born 24 March 1950 - died 21 November 1985 ) was a Russian double bassist. Life Ivan Kotov was born in Moscow, Soviet Union, to the mathematician ...

(1950-1985) – bassist * Vladimir Krainev (1944-2011) – pianist * Gidon Kremer (b. 1947) – violinist * Eduard Kunz (b. 1980) – pianist * Ina Lange (1846-1930) – pianist; later music historian and writer *

Elisabeth Leonskaja Elisabeth Leonskaja (born 23 November 1945) (In Russian: Елизавета Ильинична Леонская) is a Soviet and Austrian pianist. She was born to a family of Jewish and Polish extraction living in Tbilisi, then the capital of t ...

– pianist *

Josef Lhévinne Josef Lhévinne (13 December 18742 December 1944) was a Russian pianist and piano teacher. Lhévinne wrote a short book in 1924 that is considered a classic: ''Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing''. Asked how to say his name, he told ''The L ...

– pianist * Rosina Lhévinne – pianist * Dong-Hyek Lim – pianist *

Alexei Lubimov Alexei Lubimov (born 1944 as Алексе́й Бори́сович Люби́мов, Alexey Borisovich Lyubimov) is a Russian pianist, fortepianist and harpsichordist. Lubimov studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Heinrich Neuhaus and Lev Nau ...

– pianist * Nikolai Lugansky – pianist * Radu Lupu – pianist * Anna Saulowna Lyuboshits – cellist * Dmitry Malikov – pianist, composer, singer * Anna Malikova – pianist *

Yevgeny Malinin Yevgeny Malinin (8 November 19306 April 2001), PAU, was a Soviet and Russian pianist. Biography Malinin was born in Moscow. A disciple of Heinrich Neuhaus, he began his career while a student at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1949 he won (ex-a ...

– pianist * Alexander Malofeev - pianist * Álvaro Manzano (1955-2022) - Ecuadorian conductor * Emanuil Manolov – pianist, flutist, conductor, composer * Fuat Mansurov – conductor *

Denis Matsuev Denis Leonidovich Matsuev ( rus, Дени́с Леони́дович Мацу́ев /ma'tsujef/; born June 11, 1975) is a Russian classical pianist and occasional jazz performer. Biography Born in Irkutsk, Soviet Union, Matsuev is the only child o ...

– pianist *

Nikolai Medtner Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (russian: Никола́й Ка́рлович Ме́тнер, ''Nikoláj Kárlovič Métner''; 13 November 1951) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. After a period of comparative obscurity in the 25 years immed ...

– composer, pianist *

Victor Merzhanov Victor Karpovich Merzhanov (russian: Ви́ктор Ка́рпович Мержа́нов) (15 August 191920 December 2012) was a Russian pianist and People's Artist of the USSR (1990). Biography Merzhanov was born in Tambov and studied at Tam ...

– pianist *

Alexander Mogilevsky Alexander Yakovlevich Mogilevsky (russian: Александр Яковлевич Могилевский; January 15(27), 1885March 7, 1953) was a classical concert violinist and director of the Kremlin Band for Tsar Nicholas II. Career Born in Ode ...

– violinist *

Roman Moiseyev Roman Yurevich Moiseyev (russian: Роман Юрьевич Моисеев) (born May 12, 1960 in Moscow) is a Russian conductor. Biography Moiseyev received a musical education at the Academic Music College (1975-1979) and the Gnessins Russi ...

– conductor * Alexander Mosolov – pianist, composer * Avni Mula – Albanian singer, composer * Shoista Mullodzhanova – Shashmaqam singer *

Viktoria Mullova Viktoria Yurievna Mullova ( rus, Виктория Юрьевна Муллова, , vʲɪˈktorʲɪɪ̯ə ˈmuɫəvə; born 27 November 1959) is a Russian-born British violinist. She is best known for her performances and recordings of a number ...

– violinist *

Sergey Musaelyan Sergey Aleksandrovich Musaelyan (russian: Сергей Александрович Мусаелян; born November 23, 1950, in Moscow) is a Russian pianist. He is of Armenian descent. Life and career Parents Musaelyan's father, Aleksander Mus ...

– pianist * Lisa Nakazono-Węgłowska – pianist * Alexandre Naoumenko – singer * Anahit Nersesyan – pianist * Heinrich Neuhaus – pianist * Stanislav Neuhaus – pianist * Tatiana Nikolayeva – pianist *

Dmitri Novgorodsky Dmitri Novgorodsky is a classical pianist. He is the first Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory graduate in piano performance and the first Russian-Soviet musician who has earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance degree from Yale Univer ...

– pianistLevin, Neil M
Biography: Jacob Weinberg 1879–1956
Milken Archive. Retrieved 29 August 2014. *

Lev Oborin Lev Nikolayevich Oborin (russian: Лев Николаевич Оборин, ''Lev Nikolaevič Oborin''; Moscow, Moscow, 5 January 1974) was a Soviet and Russian pianist, composer and pedagogue. He was the winner of the first International Chopin ...

– pianist *

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor. Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin ...

– violinist * Alexander Osminin − pianist *

Aleksandra Pakhmutova Aleksandra Nikolayevna Pakhmutova (russian: Александра Николаевна Пахмутова ; born 9 November 1929) is a Soviet and Russian composer. She has remained one of the best-known figures in Soviet The Soviet Union ...

– composer *

Dmitry Paperno Dmitry Paperno (1929 in Kyiv – 2020 in Northbrook, IL) was a Soviet and American concert pianist. In 1955, Paperno won 6th Prize in the V International Chopin Piano Competition, and then recorded and performed widely under the Soviet regime. He ...

– pianist * Georgs Pelēcis – Latvian composer and musicologist * Nikolai Petrov (1943-2011) – pianist * Gregor Piatigorsky – cellist * Mikhail Pletnev – pianist, composer, conductor * Ivo Pogorelić – pianist *

Viktoria Postnikova Viktoria Valentinovna Postnikova (Russian: Виктория Валентиновна Постникова; born 12 January 1944) is a Russian pianist. Biography Postnikova was born in Moscow into a family of musicians. She entered the Central Mus ...

– pianist * Mikhail Press – violinist *

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

– pianist, composer * Sviatoslav Richter – pianist *

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well ...

– cellist and conductor * Gennady Rozhdestvensky – conductor * Nikolai Sachenko (b. 1977) – violinist * Aram Satian – composer *

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин ; – ) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed ...

– composer and pianist *

Rodion Shchedrin Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin ( rus, Родион Константинович Щедрин, , rədʲɪˈon kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ɕːɪˈdrʲin; born 16 December 1932) is a Soviet and Russian composer and pianist, winner of USSR State ...

– composer and pianist * Alfred Schnittke – composer * Dmitry Shishkin (b. 1992) - pianist * Leonid Sigal – violinist * Valery Sigalevitch – pianist *

Tamriko Siprashvili Tamriko Siprashvili (born January 2, 1963) is a Georgian pianist. She was born in Tbilisi the capital city of the Republic of Georgia. Training She began her piano studies at the age of three. At age five, she entered the Special Music Scho ...

– pianist * Pyotr Slovtsov – tenor *

Galina Konstantinovna Smirnova Galina Konstantinovna Smirnova (January 20, 1910 - 1980) was a Russian composer, musicologist, and radio music editor who used folk songs in her compositions and composed at least one film score. Smirnova was born in Moscow. She studied at the Mo ...

- composer * Viviana Sofronitsky – pianist * Aleksandr Sokolov – Russian Minister of Culture * Senya Son (b. 1951) – pianist, composer * Alexei Soutchkov – pianist * Vladimir Spivakov – violinist, conductor * Steven Spooner – pianist *

Mykola Suk Mykola Petrovich Suk ( uk, Микола Петрович Сук; born December 21, 1945) is a Ukrainian American pianist and Merited Artist of Ukraine. Biography Born in Kiev, Ukraine (formerly: USSR), into a musical family, Mykola studied at K ...

– pianist * Yevgeny Svetlanov – conductor, pianist, composer * Ivan Tasovac – pianist * Marina Tchebourkina – organist, musicologist * Viktor Tretiakov – violinist * Anna Tsybuleva – pianist * Ibrahim Tukiqi – Albanian singer * Pava Turtygina - composer, pianist *

Mauricio Vallina Mauricio Vallina (born 1970 in Havana,) is a Cuban pianist living in Brussels.Saša Večtomov – cellist * Alexander Veprik – composer * Anastasia Vedyakova - violinist and composer *

Eliso Virsaladze Eliso Virsaladze ( ka, ელისო ვირსალაძე; born September 14, 1942) is a Georgian pianist. Biography She was born in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR. Her father Constantine Virsaladze was a prominent doctor and scientist, so w ...

– pianist * Oleg Volkov - pianist *

Mikhail Voskresensky Mikhail Voskresensky (; born 1935) is a Russian pianist who left Russia for the United States in 2022 protesting against Russian invasion of Ukraine. Training Mikhail Voskresensky is known internationally as a pianist in the great Romantic tradi ...

– pianist *

Jacob Weinberg Jacob Weinberg (1 July 1879, Odesa – 2 November 1956 New York) was a Russian-born American Jewish composer and pianist who composed over 135 works for piano and other instruments. He was one of the founders of the Jewish National Conserva ...

– pianist and composer * Çesk Zadeja – Albanian composer * Marina Yakhlakova – pianist *

Irina Zaritskaya Irina Zaritskaya (May 2, 1939 - July 30, 2001) was a Ukrainian pianist. Early life and education Zaritskaya started playing the piano at the Children’s Music School in Kiev until 1953, and subsequently continued her studies at the Central Speci ...

– pianist * Igor Zubkovsky – cellist

Notable current professors

* Yuri Bashmet – viola * Andrei Diev – piano * Andrei Eshpai – composition * Vera Gornostayeva – piano *

– cello *

– piano and historical keyboards * Valery Popov – bassoon * Kirill Rodin – cello * Natalia Shakhovskaya – cello * Yuri Slesarev – piano *

– piano *

– piano * Irina Zhurina – voice

References

* The Moscow Conservatory. Information Booklet. Second Edition. Moscow, 2001. . * Moscow Conservatoire. Moscow, 1994. . * Moscow Conservatory: Traditions of Music Education, Art, and Science 1866–2006. Moscow: "Moskovskaya Konservatoriya" Publishing House, 2006. *

External links

Moscow Conservatory website
(in Russian)
Moscow Conservatory website
(in English) {{Authority control Music schools in Russia Educational institutions established in 1866 1866 establishments in the Russian Empire Arts organizations established in 1866 Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Moscow