Electronic Music in St. Petersburg: An Overview. Interview with Composer Alexander Kharkovsky

Abstract

In his interview the St. Petersburg-based composer Alexander Kharkovsky, a specialist in electronic music and an organizer of electronic music concerts, tells about his own musical compositions, and also presents the history of the formation and the development of electronic music in St. Petersburg, starting from the 1970s. He describes the musical compositions and the artistic paths of the primary pioneers of electronic music in St. Petersburg, such as Sergei Belimov and Anatoly Korolyov, recounts about the musical compositions and musical activities of younger electronic composers, such as Sofia Levkovskaya, Svetlana Lavrova and others, and also tells about his participation in various events devoted to contemporary music, including electronic music, such as the festival From the Avant-Garde to the Present Day, the activities of the PRO ARTE Institute and the eNsemble contemporary music ensemble, the lectures of Moscow-based electronic music specialist Andrei Smirnov. All of this presents a lively picture of the contemporary music scene in St. Petersburg in the late 20th and early 21st century.

Keywords: contemporary music, electronic music, Sergei Belimov, Anatoly Korolyov, contemporary music festivals, From the Avant-Garde to the Present Day, PRO ARTE Institute