Lev Zhurbin

Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin (born August 18, 1978 in Moscow, Russia) is a composer, violist, and arranger. A frequent collaborator with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project Ensemble and the Kronos Quartet, Ljova is the author of over 70 original compositions for classical, jazz, and folk music ensembles. He has also contributed musical scores to numerous short and feature films.

Ljova immigrated to the United States in 1990 and currently lives in New York City. He is the son of one of Russia's foremost composers, Alexander Zhurbin.

Ljova's arrangements and performances on the viola were featured on Sony Classical recording with Yo-Yo Ma, "Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon," and with Dawn Upshaw and the Andalucian Dogs on the Deutsche Grammophon recording "Ayre", featuring the music of Luciano Berio and Osvaldo Golijov. Both recordings were nominated for the Grammy Awards in 2005. His arrangements of music by Kayhan Kalhor can be heard on the "Silent City" album, by Kalhor and Brooklyn Rider. Ljova's composition, "Middle Village", was licensed for Francis Ford Coppola's film, "Youth Without Youth", in a special version with Kálmán Balogh on cymbalom.

Ljova released his debut solo CD, , in July 2006. The debut album of his ensemble, Ljova and the Kontraband, featuring Frank London, William Schimmel and other special guests, was released on September 28, 2008 on Kapustnik Records. Most recently, Ljova began performing on the famiola, a 6-string violin/viola/cello hybrid made by Eric Aceto.

External links

* [http://www.ljova.com Ljova's Official Website]
* [http://Ljova.com/kontraband Ljova and the Kontraband] , Ljova's performing ensemble.
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/arts/music/13classcd.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Review of Ljova's debut solo CD in New York Times]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1311785/ Cinematographic achievements] on IMDb
* [http://ccmixter.org/media/people/ljova Ljova's page on CCMixter] , where you can download raw files of Ljova's performances for remixing.
* [http://www.alexanderzhurbin.ru Ljova's father, Alexander Zhurbin]
* [http://kronosquartet.org/ The Kronos Quartet]
* [http://www.silkroadproject.org The Silk Road Project]