Anatoly Boyarsky (1932-); RUS

Anatoly Boyarsky was born in 1932 in Kharkov, Ukraine, the son of musical parents - his father was the director of the Kharkov Opera House and his mother a professional opera singer. After graduating in 1955 from the Kharkov State Conservatory, where he studied piano and composition with Professor D.L. Klebanov, Boyarsky moved to Leningrad. There he studied conducting with Professor E.P. Grikurov, and began to build his career as a composer. He received performances of his music in Leningrad, Moscow, and elsewhere in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In the years following, Boyarsky received performances by the St. Petersburg State Chamber Orchestra, the Bolshoi Theater Brass Quintet and other prestigious ensembles; his works have been conducted by O. Dimitradi, A. Yansens, and P. Sondetskis, as well as numerous works under his own baton. He has likewise performed many of his own piano compositions - both in solo recitals and with orchestras. In addition, Boyarsky has left a great musical legacy in Russia, working as an instructor at the music school in Ivanovo, Russia, where he helped to develop several generations of young Russian composers.

In 1994, Boyarsky moved to Israel, where his daughter had settled a few years earlier. He currently lives in the small city of Quiryat Shmona, on the border with Lebanon. He frequently travels throughout Israel, including to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, for performances of his music. In his works, Boyarsky is much indebted to his passion for improvisation, and the resulting spontaneity that it brings to his music. Moreover, he is thoroughly committed to the notion of creative independence, free from both intellectual dogma and popular fashion: "I believe that true innovation can be met only when the artist is free from any a priori aims and when his potential is self-sufficient."