biography - Grigory Smirnov, composer & pianist

Biography

Grigory Smirnov

composer & pianist

Grigory Smirnov is a composer and pianist based in New York.

His compositions have been performed around the globe in major venues, such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, Merkin Concert Hall, Moscow Philharmonic Hall and The Copenhagen Opera House. His CD album “Dowson Songs • Chaconne”, released by Naxos Records ("Critic's Choice" in Opera News magazine) features a large-scale song cycle Dowson Songs, commissioned by The ASCAP Foundation and premiered at Merkin Concert Hall. Grigory Smirnov's music has been featured on WQXR, America's leading classical music radio station, and in a number of festivals worldwide, including Tanglewood Music Center (MA, USA), Brevard Music Center (NC, USA), Composers Now (New York), ppIANISSIMO (Sofia, Bulgaria), Chamber Music Sessions (Kiev, Ukraine), CTAM Festival (Moscow, Russia), Blue Lake Summer Arts Festival (MI, USA).

As a pianist, Grigory Smirnov performs classical, contemporary and improvisational music.

Born in Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia, Grigory Smirnov studied as a pianist at the Novosibirsk Music College and as a composer with Yuri Yukechev at the Glinka Novosibirsk State Conservatory. During his years in Russia, he was awarded a composition prize at the IV Prokofiev International Competition and debuted as a composer of orchestral music with his composition Pastorale which was premiered by the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra. Since moving to the United States, he received his Master of Music degree in composition from The Juilliard School (2011), where he studied with Christopher Rouse. He was a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 2011.