Alissa Firsova (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Алиса Фирсова; born 24 July 1986) is a Russian-British classical composer, pianist and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. Born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to the composers

Elena Firsova Elena Olegovna Firsova (; also ''Yelena'' or ''Jelena Firssowa''; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian composer living in the UK. Life Firsova was born in Leningrad into the family of physicists Oleg Firsov and Viktoria Lichko. She studied music ...

and Dmitri Smirnov, she moved to the UK in 1991. In 2001 she won the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

/Guardian/Proms Young Composer Competition with her piano piece "Les Pavots". She graduated from

Purcell School The Purcell School for Young Musicians is a specialist private music school for children, located in the town of Bushey, south Hertfordshire, England, and is the oldest specialist music school in the UK. The school was awarded the UNESCO Mozar ...

as a composer and pianist in 2004, and

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

as a pianist in 2009, where she also developed her conducting studies with Paul Brough. In 2009 she entered the Conducting Postgraduate Course in

under the tuition of

Colin Metters Colin Metters is an English conductor, orchestral trainer and conducting pedagogue. He is Professor of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he founded the Conductors' Course in 1983. In September 2013, he retired as Head of ...

. Her piano teachers included Tatiana Kantorovich,

Valéria Szervánszky Valéria Szervánszky (born October 1947) is a Hungarian classical pianist, born in Budapest and now a resident of the United Kingdom. Life Szervánszky studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary with Pál Kadosa and G ...

, James Gibb, Simon Mulligan,

Hamish Milne Hamish Milne (27 April 1939 – 12 February 2020) was an English pianist known for his advocacy of Nikolai Medtner. Milne studied at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury and then with Harold Craxton at the Royal Academy of Music in London, ...

, Ian Fountain, and

Stephen Kovacevich Stephen Kovacevich (born October 17, 1940) is an American classical pianist and conductor. He is particularly celebrated for his recordings of works by Beethoven, Bartók, and Schubert, and is known for technical skill, clarity of playing, and a ...

. Among her composition teachers were Jeoffrey Sharkey, Richard Dubugnon, Jonathan Cole and Simon Speare. She also participated in workshops and master classes with composers

Nicholas Maw John Nicholas Maw (5 November 1935 – 19 May 2009) was a British composer. Among his works are the operas '' The Rising of the Moon'' (1970) and '' Sophie's Choice'' (2002). Biography Born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Maw was the son of Clarence ...

Simon Holt Simon Holt (born 21 February 1958) is an English composer. Biography Simon Holt was born in Bolton, Lancashire on 21 February 1958. Educated at Bolton School, Holt immersed himself in organ, piano and visual art during his sixth form years. ...

, Anthony Gilbert,

David Bedford David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter ...

, David Matthews, and

Mark-Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage (born 10 June 1960) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Life and career Mark-Anthony Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex on 10 June 1960. Turnage was the eldest of three children. His parents were lov ...

. She had her

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

debut in May 2009, followed by a

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

debut playing

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

's ''

Les Noces ''The Wedding'', or ''Svadebka (''), is a Russian-language ballet-cantata by Igor Stravinsky scored unusually for four vocal soloists, chorus, percussion and four pianos. Dedicating the work to impresario Sergei Diaghilev, the composer described ...

'' in the

Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

festival in August. Her "Bach Allegro", commissioned by

, was premiered in

in August 2010 by the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

under

Andrew Litton Andrew Litton (born May 16, 1959, New York City) is an American orchestral conductor. Litton is a graduate of The Fieldston School. Biography He studied piano with Nadia Reisenberg and conducting with Sixten Ehrling at the Juilliard Schoo ...

. Her solo piano debut CD ''Russian Emigres'' was released by the Vivat label. Alissa's music is featured in a Proms Portrait on 27 August 2015, prior to the world premiere of her "Bergen’s Bonfire" by the

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra ( Norwegian: Bergen filharmoniske orkester) is a Norwegian orchestra based in Bergen. Its principal concert venue is the Grieg Hall. History Established in 1765 under the name ''Det Musicalske Selskab'' (The M ...

and

Works

*Op. 1, ''Les Pavots'' for solo piano *Op. 2, ''Strength Through Joy'' for symphony orchestra *Op. 3, ''Three Pieces'' for cello and piano *Op. 4, ''The Entire City'' for string quintet *Op. 5, ''I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in heaven'' for wind and string ensemble *Op. 6, ''Rhapsody'' for solo violin *Op. 7, ''Lyrisches Stuck'' for viola and piano *Op. 8, ''Prophet'' for mixed chorus *Op. 9, ''Expressions'' for clarinet and piano *Op. 10, ''Loss'' for clarinet quintet *Op. 11, ''The Endless Corridor'' for piano *Op. 12, ''Birth of Remembrance'' for flute, clarinet, violin and cello *Op. 13, ''Lune Rouge'' for piano *Op. 14, ''Age of Reason'' for string quartet *Op. 15, ''Celebration'' for clarinet, flute, violin and cello *Op. 16, ''Tamaris'' for two cellos *Op. 17, ''Bluebells'' for piano solo, clarinet, horn, string quartet and percussion (third movement of Family Concerto, In memory of

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

– family project) *Op. 18, ''Paradiso'' for string quartet (third movement of "

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

" – family project)The commission from the Liverpool University. The whole family project "La Divina Commedia" consists of 3 String Quartets ("Inferno", "Purgatorio" and "Paradiso"), written for Dante String Quartet. Here is more detailed information about th
London premiere
of the piece. *Op. 19, ''Freedom'' (Clarinet Concerto) *Op. 20, ''Zhivago Songs'' to

Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (30 May 1960) was a Russian and Soviet poet, novelist, composer, and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pasternak's first book of poems, ''My Sister, Life'', was published in Berlin in 1922 and soon became an imp ...

's poems for voice and piano *Op. 21, ''Moonlight over the Sea'' based on Munch's painting for solo violin *Op. 22, '' Chateau de Canisy'' for voice and piano *Op. 23, ''Souvenir Melancolique'' for clarinet and horn
''Bach Allegro''
for large symphony orchestra (transcription of the third movement of Bach's 3rd Viola da Gamba Sonata, BWV 1029). Proms Commission 2010. *Op. 24, ''Kubla Khan'' for tenor, bayan, violin and cello (fifth movement of family project) *Op. 25, ''Gallo Variations'' for chamber orchestra *Op. 26, ''Unity'' for bass-baritone and piano *Op. 27, ''Serenade for Strings'' for string orchestra *Op. 28, ''Paradisi Gloria'' for SATB choir a cappella *Op. 29, ''Fantasy'' for cello and piano *Op. 30, ''Stabat Mater'' for SATB choir a cappella *Op. 31, ''Bergen’s Bonfire'' for Symphony Orchestra (Triple winds) *Op. 32, ''Tree of Hope'' for 4 Harps *Op. 33, ''Le Soleil de Conques'' for two solo cellos and string orchestra *Op. 34, ''Bride of the Wind'' for piano-duet *Op. 35, ''Asiago Concerto'' for piano trio and chamber orchestra *Op. 36, ''Tennyson Fantasy'' for string quartet

References

External links

* *
Article in ''The Guardian'' (UK)Article in ''The Observer'' (UK)Article in ''Classica FM'' (Russia)
* Unreleased recording of her performance of her father's Piano Sonata No. 6 ''Blake-Sonata'' (2008), in two movements ** ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Firsova, Alissa 1986 births Living people 20th-century British composers 20th-century Russian classical composers 20th-century Russian women composers 21st-century British composers 21st-century Russian classical composers 21st-century Russian classical pianists 21st-century Russian women composers British classical pianists British people of Russian descent British women classical composers Child classical musicians Russian women classical composers Composers from Moscow Soviet emigrants to the United Kingdom Russian women classical pianists Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music 20th-century Russian women pianists 21st-century Russian women pianists