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Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin

Hailed by Billboard Magazine as "one of New York's fastest-rising composers and instrumentalists", LJOVA (Lev Zhurbin) stands at the forefront of his generation as the premiere bridge between the world's musical cultures. Ljova was born in 1978 in Moscow, Russia, and moved to New York with his parents, composer Alexander Zhurbin and writer Irena Ginzburg, in 1990. He divides his time between performing as a violist in diverse groups ranging from his own LJOVA AND THE KONTRABAND, to string quartets, jazz combos and Gypsy bands; studying and arranging music for Yo-Yo Ma, the Kronos Quartet, Jay-Z and others; and composing original music for film, TV, theatre and the concert stage.

Ljova is the author of more than 70 compositions for classical, jazz, and folk ensembles, as well as scores to three feature and over a dozen short films. He is co-founder of Mediant Music, a new company specializing in music for advertising and media. In 2005, Ljova was one of six composers invited to participate in the Sundance Institute's Film Composers Lab. In 2007, Ljova worked as assistant to composer Osvaldo Golijov on his score to Francis Ford Coppola's film "Youth Without Youth", to which Ljova also contributed an original track, "Middle Village". Most recently, Ljova was as guest faculty at the Banff Centre in Canada.

As an arranger, Ljova has completed dozens of musical arrangements for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, the Kronos Quartet, the rapper Jay-Z, Bond, Matmos, and others. Resulting from these collaborations are arrangements of musics from Azerbaijian, China, India, Iran, Japan, Russia, Tanzania, as well as gypsy music from Romania and France.

Ljova released his acclaimed solo debut recording, VJOLA: WORLD ON FOUR STRINGS, on Kapustnik Records, in 2006. His ensemble, Ljova and the Kontraband, released their debut record, MNEMOSYNE, in 2008. Previously, he has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble on the bestselling Sony Classical CD "Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon", and with The Andalucian Dogs on the Deutsche Grammophon CD "Ayre", featuring the music of Luciano Berio and Osvaldo Golijov. He has performed on tour with Savion Glover, and recorded with composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, producer Guy Sigsworth and the Electric Light Orchestra.

Ljova grew up in a household filled with music, books and an unquenchable hunger for culture. His father, Alexander Zhurbin, is Russia's foremost composer for film and musical theatre; his mother, Irena Ginzburg, is a distinguished poet, writer and journalist. He began violin lessons at age four with Galina Turchaninova, a celebrated pedagogue who also taught violinists Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin. When not practicing, the pre-teen Ljova regularly overran his record player and played street hockey.

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Album Review

Lev : Vjola: World on Four Strings

Read "Vjola: World on Four Strings" reviewed by Sean Patrick Fitzell


Unlike the piano or saxophone, there is little precedent for solo viola albums in jazz or creative music. For his ambitious debut, Lev “Ljova Zhurbin confronts that challenge with a compelling set of tunes reflecting a voracious range of stylistic influences, performed almost exclusively on viola. Lacking the tendency for shrillness of its smaller cousin, the violin, or the cello's propensity for melancholy, the viola offers a broad aural spectrum, which Zhurbin expertly weaves into rich soundscapes with multitracking and ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Vjola: World on Four...

Kapustnik Records
2007

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Bagel on the Malecon

From: Vjola: World on Four Strings
By Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin

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