Shor, Alexey (composer)

Alexey Shor was born in Kiev in 1970. After the Chernobyl disaster, he moved to Moscow, graduated from a special mathematical school, and studied at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University .

In 1991, he emigrated to Israel with his parents. Then he moved to the USA (New York), where he completed higher education and received his doctorate in mathematics ^[3] . Until 2016, he worked as a mathematician ( geometry , dynamical systems ).

From childhood, Alexey loved classical music. In 2012, he first began to compose, and since then has written small works. Once, in the house of Alexei, his friend, viola player David Aaron Carpenter, saw one of the scores on the table. The work of Alexei Shor really liked the violist. Together with the composer, David recorded a video, which soon collected more than 350,000 views on Youtube ^[4] .

Since then, Alexey Shor’s music has been played in the most prestigious concert halls in the world, including Wiener Musikverein (Vienna), Berlin Philharmonie , Carnegie Hall (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington), the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory , the Mariinsky Theater , State Kremlin Palace , The Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Gasteig (Munich), Wigmore Hall (London), Teatro Argentina (Rome) and others. ^[five]

Scores of works by Alexei Shor are released by Breitkopf & Hartel and P. Jurgenson ^[6] .

Shore music CDs have been released by Warner Classics, DECCA, SONY Classics and Delos, among others ^[6] .

Concerts with the composer's works were broadcast by Medici.TV, Mezzo and Euronews. The overture to the ballet Crystal Palace to the music of Alexei Shor was performed at the 40th Gramophone Classical Music Awards in London ^[7] .

Shor's works were performed by many world-famous soloists, such as Salvatore Accardo , Anna Aglatova , Boris Allahverdyan, Boris Andrianov , Nare Argamanyan, Narek Akhnazaryan , Guy Braunstein, Maxim Vengerov , Ingolf Wunder , Yuri Zhislin, David Aaron Carpenter, Ray Jenve, Veron Gayk Kazazyan, Freddie Kempf , Roman Kim, Philip Kopachevsky , Denis Kozhuhin , Jan Lissitzky, Sabina Meyer , Shlomo Mints , Andreas Ottensamer, Vadim Repin, Alexander Romanovsky, Nikolai Znaider , as well as Fauré Quartett, Trio “Wanderer” , Trio named after. Khachaturian, Blowing Paratora and others ^[4] .

His compositions were used as sound effects on the Fox business news channel and on the websites of Bloomberg News, Yahoo and the Huffington Post, New York Times.

On July 21, 2017, a pre-premiere show of the ballet with elements of the opera Crystal Palace, staged to the music of Alexei Shor, took place. Director - Ekaterina Mironova, choreographer - Alexander Somov, conductor - Pavel Klinichev , set designer - Sergei Timonin. Soloists - Ivan Vasiliev , Maria Vinogradova, Anna Aglatova , Maria Allash , Maria Poroshina . In 2018, several more performances were shown around the world. The loudest was the Russian premiere of the ballet “Crystal Palace”, which was held with great success on September 10 at the State Kremlin Palace.

Shor is a resident composer of the Maltese Philharmonic Academy, Orchestra and the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. In 2017-2021, he is also a resident composer of the Maltese International Music Festival and Piano Competition ^[8] . In 2018, he was awarded the title of Honorary Professor of the Yerevan State Conservatory after Komitas.

For the scene:

• “Crystal Palace” - a classical ballet with opera elements

For violin or viola with orchestra:

• “Seascapes” - concert for violin or viola with orchestra
• “Phantasms” - concert for violin and orchestra
• The Four Seasons of Manhattan - Suite for violin or viola and strings
• Well-Tempered Chanson - Suite for Viola and Orchestra

For clarinet and orchestra:

• Verdiana - Fantasia for Clarinet and Orchestra

For orchestra:

• "Images of the Great Siege" - suite for the symphony orchestra dedicated to the Great Siege of Malta in 1565

For cello:

• “Musical Pilgrimage” - concert for cello and orchestra

Vocal works:

• "Addio"
• “Two songs for my children”

For piano and orchestra:

• Travel Notes - Suite for Piano and Orchestra
• “From My Bookshelf” - Suite for Piano and Orchestra

For solo piano:

• "Childhood memories"
• Travel Notes - Version for Piano Solo
• “From My Bookshelf” - Version for Piano Solo
• Images of the Great Siege - version for piano solo

For piano trio:

• Seven Pieces

“Alex Shor is a very talented person! “I would like to observe its development in the future and hear even more wonderful works.”

- Krzysztof Penderecki

“When I perform Alexey’s compositions, I seem to fall in love with music again and again. She is incredibly melodic and amazing! ”

- Maxim Vengerov

“Alexei and I are of the same blood, because we are knights of the order of consonant music, very melodic and harmonious. Therefore, what he does is so close to me. ”

- Georg Pelecis

“For me, the music of Alexei Shor is a feeling of overwhelming peace and harmony, it sounds very nice.”

- Gia Cancelli

“The music of Alexei Shor is very sentimental, melodic and filled with love. Undoubtedly, the history and traditions of the Mediterranean, which are so close and interesting to him, had a huge influence on his style and formation as a composer. Shore music has its own harmonic features and a special emotional language. In particular, I really like the work “Loss” about the Azure Window. It is beautiful, touching, unusual ... "

- Konstantin Orbelian

“Aleksey is from that galaxy of composers who bring light and warmth to our world, even if they talk about sad or sacred. It gives the musician the necessary freedom and gives the audience the opportunity to listen to his works in a new way every time. Therefore, for one of the most expressive instruments - the Harp - such music becomes a springboard for unlocking its potential. ”

- Alexander Boldachev

“I have already performed compositions by Alexei Shor in Kazakhstan, Germany, and Malta. Aleksey Shor is a wonderful contemporary composer, whose style is rather similar to Rachmaninov and Chopin. It was very nice to present the world premiere of the work of Alexei Shor. I hope that I will have the opportunity to present more works of Shor in Armenia. ”

- Nare Argamanyan

“Maltese’s music with Russian roots Alexei Shor is surprisingly melodic. She is all sung; no need to rape the voice with a strange interval, complex, non-singing intonations and an unforgettable melody. She is beautiful. It contains tenderness and lyrics, a tear and a smile, the sun and the moon ... Shor's instrumental music is interesting, unusual. ”

- Love Kazarnovskaya

“I constantly find something new in the work of Alexei Shor. His music gives a lot of scope for imagination, it is especially pronounced in the Travel Notebook, in which Shor embodies the idea of ​​travel or some impression of a certain place or city. This gives a great impetus to discovering something new in this music. ... In Travel Notebook there is a combination of a romantic and impressionistic beginning. "I like this variability when everything changes, like in a kaleidoscope."

- Philip Kopachevsky

“It’s very comfortable to sing the works of Alexei Shor, and the melodies are easy to remember. These are Mozart-style tunes: clear, simple, touching. They touch the heart, and you leave the hall with new sensations. ” ^[10]

- Anna Aglatova

“My orchestra in Rotterdam performed the music of the American-Maltese composer Alexei Shor, who is a resident composer of the MMMF, and the audience loved her. I really like the compositions of Aleksey Shor, his talent as a melodist is especially impressive. I think this is very understandable music. It is a great pleasure for me to do it. I think it’s a great pleasure for listeners to perceive this music. ”

- Conrad van Alphen

“The cello play Musical Pilgrimage of this composer I conducted in Jerusalem with the Jerusalem Orchestra. The soloist was Boris Andrianov. I can say that the music of Alexei Shor was a wonderful find: it is very fresh, beautiful. The work of Alexei Shor made a stunning impression on the public of Jerusalem. Just a flurry of applause! ”

- Dmitry Yablonsky

“The music of Alexei Shor is certainly beautiful! I can say that it is simple, light, but at the same time, so bright and changeable: it can be swift and unbridled, even furious, and sometimes it amazes with its calmness, pacification and tenderness ... For example, the works of Alexei Shor from the collection „ Children's memories “, these are amazing compositions that evoke a feeling of nostalgia. The music of Alexei Shor is also picturesque, it evokes a variety of associations, sound and visual images - drops falling from the roofs, the murmur of a stream ... " ^[11]

- Vladimir Ovchinnikov

“Alexey’s music is very pleasant, melodic, noble, and I would even say European-minded: it is diverse and reflects modernity. Alexei writes excellent solo parts for various musical instruments, as well as orchestral works, which personally arouse genuine interest in me. ”

- Dmitry Bashkirov

Official site of Alexey Shor

Aleksey Shor YouTube Channel