Composer Alexey Shor Makes Significant Impact During Short Career
Alexey Shor
Composer Alexey Shor wasn’t always working in the classical music world. The mathematician and avid concert-goer now has his music performed at major concert halls throughout the world, including in the United States.
“The fact that some of the best musicians in the world choose to play my music is a source of endless pride and happiness for me,” Alexey said.
If he knew that he was going to have a career in music, he would have started working at it as a small child, not as an adult. He has a Ph.D. in mathematics, but it was a friend’s discovery of his compositions that launched his career composing classical music.
“Being a half-decent pianist would have been a great thing for me – both as a composition tool, and as a source of pleasure,” he added. “I just hope I can keep writing music that people like and musicians want to play.”
“Crystal Palace” and other projects
The ballet “Crystal Place” was initially written for a 50-year celebration of Maltese-Russian diplomatic relations. It made its world premiere in 2017. Also, the overture to the ballet was performed at the 40th Gramophone Classical Music Awards ceremony in London.
The action of the ballet takes place in the year 1740, during the reign of the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna. The plot of “Crystal Palace” is based on a historical episode that took place at the court of the Russian autocrat, who was famous for her love of magnificent celebrations and unusual amusements. Though it is a ballet, it has operatic overtones.
It was an amazing opportunity for Alexey because most people involved in the project—ballet stars, choreographers, librettist, costume and stage designers, and others—were from the famed Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.
“I hope the audience enjoys the music, but I am also 100 percent sure they would enjoy the dancing and the visuals done by the best people in the world,” he said.
Alexey also recently finished a cello concerto, and is putting the finishing touches on a new violin concerto. He then plans to write another cycle for piano and orchestra.
Shor is the composer-in-residence for the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra Academie, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, and Salomé Chamber Orchestra. From 2017 to 2021 he is also a composer-in-residence of the Malta International Piano Festival and Competition, as well as for the preliminary competitions leading up to the final competitions in Malta in 2018 and 2021.
United States tour
The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra will perform in the United States for the first time on November 27 at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, November 29 at Strathmore near Washington D.C., and December 1 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The tour is organized by the European Foundation for Support of Culture and helps mark the orchestra’s 50th anniversary as well as Malta’s capital city, Valletta, becoming a 2018 European Capital of Culture.
Conductor Sergey Smbatyan leads the orchestra, which will play Alexey Shor's Travel Notebook Concerto.
Read more about Alexey Shor on his website.