Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin (born August 18, 1978 in Moscow, Russia) is a composer, violist, and arranger. 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. Among recent projects is a string quartet for Brooklyn Rider, arrangements for Gustavo Santaolalla, and collaborations with choreographer Aszure Barton.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, and the poet/lyricist/writer Irena Ginzburg.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.As an arranger, Ljova has frequently collaborated Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project Ensemble and the Kronos Quartet, Brooklyn Rider, Gustavo Santaolalla and Bajofondo, Alondra de la Parra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, Brooklyn Philharmonic and Alan Pierson the chamber orchestra The Knights and many others.Ljova released his debut solo CD, Vjola: World on Four Strings, 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. His third album, "Lost in Kino", focuses on his film music, featuring cues from films by Francis Ford Coppola, James Marsh, Robin Hessman, Josef Astor, Lev Polyakov, Roman Khrushch, Sean Gannet and Basia Winograd.Ljova is married to Inna Barmash, an attorney and musician. They have two sons, Benjamin (born 2009) and Yosif (born 2011).
As a kid in Moscow, I'd sit in the back of the car making up songs about nearly everything - street lamps, potatoes, friends. I never studied composition formally, and had maybe a couple of dozen lessons before I got to college. My dad, who's a composer himself and has been well-regarded in Russia for decades, was adamant I should finish a bachelor's degree on an instrument - the viola.
2
[on his group 'Kontraband' and the cover of their recording 'Mnemosyne'] It depicts a collective-farm worker in the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan, half-destroyed by a bomb or shell - the kind of thing I remember seeing as a boy in Russia. I keep looking for these connections between the past and the present. We're almost like a progressive village band. They had a certain sound, and I'm trying to build on that and go beyond.
$6 Million
