Students of 15 International Young Composers Academy in Tchaikovsky-city
Students – Composers (acoustic works):
Daniele Di Virgilio (Italia) is a Berlin-based composer. He studied Composition and Orchestral Conducting at the Conservatory of Turin and at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. In 2024 has been chosen by the Peter Eötvös Foundation as a mentee. Daniele has been awarded several international composition prizes, such as the International Competition Michele Novaror, the 3rd International Eduardas Balsys Young Composers Competition, the Busan Choral Festival & Competition and the XIX George Enescu Competition. His music has been commissioned, performed and promoted by renowned ensembles and institutions, such as JACK Quartet, Fidelio Trio, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Quatour Lontano, Divertimento Ensemble, Peter Eötvös Foundation, Vacuum Quartet, Riga “Ave Sol” Chamber Choir, Barcelona Modern, impuls Festival, and awarded by Krzysztof Penderecki, Pascal Dusapin, Magnus Lindberg, Zygmunt Krauze and Ēriks Ešenvalds.
Hyun-su Kim (South Korea) – is a composer recognized for his dynamic and expressive musical language. He was selected as a new composer at the Korean Composer Award and has won multiple international competitions, including the Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition (Piano Solo, String Quartet), Seoul Music Festival, Hwacheon Bimok Composition Competition, Ise-Shima International Composition Competition, Quebec International Music Competition, and Tallinn National University Competition in Estonia. His works have been featured at prestigious festivals such as the Pan Music Festival, Daegu International Contemporary Music Festival, East Asian Contemporary Music Festival, and the Korea-Japan Exchange Music Festival. His compositions have been performed by distinguished ensembles including Ensemble Intercontemporain, Monbijou Quartet, Armed Forces Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble hanuibalam, Ensemble 201, Ensemble Dongsung, MBC Symphony Orchestra, and CM Symphony Orchestra. His music has been showcased in Korea, Japan, Poland, France, and more, gaining international recognition.
Karina Nesteruk (Kaliningrad, Russia) graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where she studied composition with Professor N.A. Khrushcheva. In 2020, she finished her studies at the Rachmaninoff State College of Music and Art as a theorist. Participated at the XI and intern of the XII International Academy of Young Composers in Tchaikovsky, Kompositorskiye Chitki in Krasnoyarsk and St. Petersburg; attended the Synesthesia Composition Workshop in Kazan at the Rubinstein Laboratory as part of musicaeterna. She was a resident of the Perm Academic Theater (2023). Winner of the open call of the Central State Museum and the S. A. Gubaidulina Orchestra. Winner of the first All-Russian Summer Orchestra School of Contemporary Academic Music. Since 2024, she has been the head of MolOt in the Kaliningrad region and the artistic director of the KLIK-2025 Composition and Performance Laboratory. Karina’s music has been performed at the remusik.org, Zvukovye Putyi, and St. Petersburg Music Spring festivals.
Maksim Raev (Saint Petersburg, Russia) was born in Yaroslavl in 2001. He graduated from the Saint Petersburg Music College named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov with a degree in piano. He is currently studying composition at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory (class of E.V. Petrova). He participated in the A.Petrov Competition (2022, St. Petersburg), “Kompozitorskiye chitki” (2023, Moscow), and the “Zvukovyye puti” festival (2023).
Michele Selvaggi (Canada) — is a Canadian-born and Switzerland-based composer of experimental and electroacoustic music who has recently graduated from a MA in Composition at the Musik-Akademie Basel with a prize-winning thesis on Entropic Drift in musical systems. He has been the recipient of over 20 awards and prizes, including three separate SOCAN Foundation Young Composer Awards, and has completed an artistic residency at the SME AMKP Studio for Electroacoustic Music at the Academy of Music in Krakow, Poland working alongside composer, Marek Chołoniewski. Michele has been commissioned by and has collaborated with multiple international organizations, including the impuls Festival, the UdK Berlin, Museum Tinguely, Redshift Music, Arraymusic, the Kamratōn Ensemble, the Canadian Music Centre, and the Canadian New Music Network. Michele’s music specializes in pleasant discomfort, drawing inspiration from harsh noise, microtonality, soundscape, and his own personal experiences navigating the world with an often demanding, but colourful anxiety disorder.
Seare Ahmad Farhat (USA) strives to create music that connects a listener to visceral narratives in music. Drawing inspiration from his interests in poetry, mathematics, and his Afghan heritage, Seare takes language, logic, utterance, and their multiple subversions as points of musical departure. He has been commissioned by the JACK and FLUX Quartets, Longleash Ensemble, IU New Music Ensemble, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, Glass Clouds Ensemble, and others. He has received awards such as the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts in 2023 and Letters and a 2023 BMI Composer Award. Seare holds a B.M. in Composition and B.A. in Mathematics from Oberlin College and Conservatory, a master’s degree from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the position of Assistant Director of the New Music Ensemble, and is currently pursuing a D.M.A. at Cornell University studying with Kevin Ernste and Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri.
Nikifor Yakovlev (Yakutsk, Russia) is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory under the teaching of Professor Y. S. Kasparov. Born in 2002 in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). He holds a graduate degree from the Higher School of Music of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), earned in 2020. His compositions include chamber, symphonic, and choral works, as well as music for the theater production Kulun Kullustuur, which was supported by a grant from the Russian Federation’s Cultural Initiatives Fund. Distinguished recipient of international and all-Russian accolades in composition and piano performance. The VII International Competition for Young Composers “Samal,” the I International Far Eastern Competition for Composers, the International MolOt Composers Competition, and the International Music Competition named after I. F. Stravinsky. Participant in the Call for Scores Lab, Studio for New Music (2022) and the International MolOt forums and seminars for young composers.
Students – Composers (electro-acoustic works):
His compositions span various genres, including symphonic and chamber works, electronic and dance music, soundtracks.
Valentin Bezdetko (Moscow, Russia) was born in 1996 in Haiphong, Vietnam. From 2014 to 2018, he pursued his studies at the Moscow Institute of Radio Electronics and Automation (RTU MIREA).
In 2021, he enrolled at the Moscow Conservatory in the Composition program, studying under K.A. Bodrov.
He has participated in various creative laboratories, including “Kompozitorskiye chitki,” “Voice as an Instrument,” improvisation courses by Vladimir Gorlinsky and Alexei Sysoev, MIR-7 at the Stanislavsky Electrotheater, and the “Improshema” laboratory. Performs in the taiko drum group, Miyabi, at the Moscow Conservatory Center’s “Musical Cultures of the World”.
Rigel Vinskaya (Pyatigorsk, Russia) graduated from Pyatigorsk Music School No. 1, where she studied piano. In 2015, she graduated from the College of Moscow Conservatory with a diploma in Music Theory. In 2021, she completed her studies at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory, where she majored in composition. In 2020, she studied composition at the Conservatory of Stanislavo Giacomantonio in Italy as part of the Erasmus+ program. She is a member of the Union of Composers of Russia. Rigel’s music has been performed by many groups in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm, Tchaikovsky, and other cities, including MASM, JUST ensemble, the Euphoria orchestra, and the INTERTEXT ensemble. She has participated in the following projects: Improschema (2025); XII International Academy of Young Composers in Tchaikovsky (2021, 2022); TEATR-TEATR residency, Perm; III Seminars on New Music (2022), Diaghilev Fest Educational Program, Perm (2019, 2021), Kompozitorskiye Chitki, Moscow (2020, 2021).
Nina Golova (Rostov-on-Don, Russia) — is a composer, pianist, improviser, and teacher of composition and music theory at the Rostov College of Arts. She graduated from the Rostov State Conservatory. Since 2016, she has been a member of the Russian Composers’ Union. Nina Golova is the author of chamber and symphonic works, performances, electronic and electroacoustic music. She has won many awards for her compositions. She participated in the Fifth International Academy of Composers in 2015 and in “Kompositorskiye Chitki” in Kazan in 2019. She is also a member of the AMUN-ART contemporary music ensemble.
Ruitao You (China) — is a composer whose music explores paradox, language, and psychological ambiguity through hybrid forms that integrate electronics with acoustic instruments. Influenced by early tape music, his work often merges processed speech, vocal textures, and extended techniques to create unstable and immersive sonic environments. A recent graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music (UK), he has collaborated with ensembles including Explore Ensemble, Riot Ensemble, Icarus vs Muzak, the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.Ruitao has participated in international programmes such as the Mixtur Workshop (Barcelona), the Sofia Symphonic Summit, and a masterclass with Pierluigi Billone in Reggio Emilia. With a background in science and deep interests in phonetics and psychology, he is currently seeking further study and opportunities across Europe.
Trainees – Composers:
Veronika Karchemkina (Perm, Russia) is a composer and bassoonist. She studied at the Jazz Academy. In 2018, she enrolled in the orchestral department of the Moscow Conservatory and is currently an assistant trainee at the Studio for New Music (bassoon). At the conservatory, she took a composition course with Alexei Chernakov. She has participated in courses taught by Alexei Sysoev and Vladimir Gorlinsky at GRAUND Solyanka, the N`Caged workshop “Voice as an Instrument,” the project “Kompozitorskyie Chitki. Choir,” and courses of the reMusik.org fest. Veronika’s compositions have been performed at the “Zvukovyye Puti” Festival (St. Petersburg) and the “Inspired by Space” Festival (Moscow)
Lyudmila Rogozanskaya (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia) was born in St. Petersburg. She graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Music College as pianist. Winner of the All-Russian Olympiad in “Music Theory and History.” She has participated in contemporary music festivals such as “Pictures from an Exhibition” (Nizhny Novgorod), “Before and After” (Moscow, N’Caged), and Baroque Mixtape (Ensemble of Independent Musicians, St. Petersburg). Author and host of the podcast on contemporary academic music “Without Notation.” Currently studying in the second year of Composition at Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory (class of Associate Professor M.L. Buloshnikov).
Mehdi Setoudeh (Iran) — is a violinist and composer. He is currently studying composition at the Faculty of Arts at Fazel University in Shiraz. There, he continues to explore different musical languages and techniques. He took part in the Saint Petersburg Contemporary Music Festival. His new piece for clarinet, violin, and cello was performed by the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble. He combines Western and Persian music styles in his compositions. Mehdi’s current focus is on chamber music and exploring timbral relationships between instruments
Trainees – Composers:
Vasya Biryukova (Moscow, Russia) — composer, violinist. From 2014 to 2022, she studied at the Gnesin School of Music in the string department. Since 2022, she has been a student in the theory and string departments of the Moscow State Conservatory College . Participant in the Homecoming Festival (2022), the School of Contemporary Music laboratory under the guidance of N. Khrust (2022), the II and IV MCME Contemporary Music Workshops in the fields of violin and improvisation (2021, 2023), the N’Caged ensemble workshop “Voice as an Instrument” (2023, 2024), the Composers’ Union project “Kompozitorskiye Chitki. Choir“ (2023), author’s courses in contemporary composition and improvisation by A. Sysoev and V. Gorlinsky (2023), the ”Dushno“ festival as part of the contemporary music ensemble ”Shelestok,“ 24-hour ‘Komponistinnen’ Piano Marathon Vol. 2: ”A Room Full of Voices.”
Yulia Gavrilova (Saint Petersburg, Russia) — is a composer, teacher, and mime dancer. In 2004, she graduated from the College of the Glinka Moscow State Conservatory (Magnitogorsk) with a specialization in music theory. In 2010, she graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory with a degree in Composition (class of V.I. Tsytovich). From 2023 to 2025, she was an assistant trainee at the same conservatory, specializing in Composition (class of A.Y. Radvilovich). She has participated in various international projects, including the Darmstadt Summer Courses in Germany (2010), the Stockhausen Courses in Kürten, Germany (2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017), master classes at the Venice Biennale in Italy (2008), and the workshop “Voice as an Instrument” by the N’Caged ensemble in Moscow (2024 and 2025), etc. Her works have been performed in various concert halls in St. Petersburg and Moscow, as well as at the “Formula of Sound,” “Zvukovyye puti,” “Land of Children,” “Before and After,” and other festivals.
Guillermo Leonardini (Bolivia) — is a composer based in La Paz. He studied at the Plurinational Conservatory of Music and Universidad Loyola, where he wrote his undergraduate thesis on Morton Feldman’s trios through the lens of Complex Systems. He also studied at the “School of Composition” with a Hermann Foundation scholarship and took lessons with Alberto Villalpando. His works have been performed by various ensembles and include Four Pieces for Orchestra, Sawu (First Prize, Adrián Patiño Contest), and Él viene y él va (First Prize, Contemporary Bolivian Music Contest). He participated in workshops with Daniel Leguizamón, Julio Estrada, Peter Ablinger, among others. In 2022, he composed rumo for Ensemble 2e2m during the Atlantic Composition Course and is currently a resident composer in the Postcolonial Recherche project with Ensemble Recherche. He is a member of Ensamble Inmediato and completed the Virtual Diploma in Sound Art with Tsonami (Chile), exploring immersive and 3D sound.
Daria Maraeva (Novosibirsk, Russia) was born in Rubtsovsk, in the south of the Altai Krai. She started studying music at the age of five, singing in children’s choirs. Then, in 2007, she began studying piano professionally. Her first pieces were composed in 2009. She is a participant in the “Kompositorskiye chitki” project. While she was in music school and college, she wrote a lot of songs for the piano. She also wrote love songs and songs for groups of musicians. These songs were played at different places, like Rubtsovsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Biysk. From 2019 to 2024, she studied at the Glinka National Conservatory in the composition department under Andrei Popov and Yuri Yukechev.
Mohammadi Mohammadmehdi (Iran)
A third-year student at the Composition Department of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, class of Professor Alexander Radvilovich. He plays the national string instrument, the tar.
His works have been performed at major festivals in St. Petersburg: Zvukovуye Putyi (2023) and reMusik.org (2024).
Dmitry Murgin (Perm, Russia) studied classical singing at Perm Choir Chapel and Music College. He worked at Perm Opera and Ballet Theater for two years, singing in choirs, including Parma Voices. While working at the theater, he wrote his first choral composition based on a spiritual text called “Laudes Creaturarum” by Francis of Assisi in the Umbrian dialect of Italian. He is a student at the Ural State Conservatory, which is named after Mussorgsky. He is a member of the choir at the Ural Opera. Participated in “Kompozitorskiye Chitki” (2025), the Ural Music Night festival, and A. Pantykin’s theater laboratory (presentation of the music production). Winner of the “Ural Composer” competition (2023).
Students – Musicologists and Producers:
Stanislava Vyatkina (St. Peterburg, Russia) was born in Votkinsk in 2004. Currently studying Music at St. Petersburg State University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Active participant and organizer of international academic conferences. Volunteer at music festivals including reMusik.org. Winner of music literature olympiads.
Vera Yesaulkova (Yekaterinburg, Russia) is a lecturer, musician and vocalist. Graduate of the Sverdlovsk Music College named after P. I. Tchaikovsky with a degree in ‘Vocal Art’. Currently she is a student at the Ural State Conservatory named after M. P. Mussorgsky, specializing in ‘Vocal Performance’. Creator of the musical project ‘dialogi-dialogi’. Member of the improvisation ensemble ‘tsarapina’.
Anna Konivets (Voronezh, Russia) graduated in 2020 with honors from the Voronezh State Institute of Arts, earning a degree in musicology. In 2023, she completed her postgraduate studies in art history, specializing in music theory under the guidance of Professor E.B. Trembovelsy. Her research interests, which are closely related to her doctoral dissertation, focus on the work of composer A.A. Tsygankov. While still a student, she published academic and critical articles in such journals as Music and Time, Problems of Musicology, and Musical Life. The subject has demonstrated an active engagement in global academic forums, participating in international conferences that cater to the advancement of knowledge in their respective fields. Since 2020, she has served as the head of the literary and dramaturgical department of the Voronezh State Opera and Ballet Theater.
Varvara Orchenko (Moscow, Russia) was born in Moscow, graduated from the Music School at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, flute performance degree. Did the project “How to See Time?”, which included representation of understanding of the concept of Time through the prisms of contemporary visual art and music, physics, and philosophy. Second year of BSc Acoustics and Music Technology at the University of Edinburgh. Participated in academic contemporary music and theater festivals such as Diaghilev, Vyksa, Tolstoy and Theater Boulevard. Writing academic papers on music history and music analysis, mainly on acknowledging and preservation of Soviet religious and constructivist music.
Vladimir Pechetov (Russia, Ekaterinburg) was born in Yakutsk (Russia). Vocalist, a graduate of the Sverdlovsk Music College named after Tchaikovsky in Ekaterinburg (2024). Artist and editor in Ural Opera Ballet Theatre, editor of theatre social media. Lecturer, creator of musical project ‘dialogi-dialogi’ (‘dialogues-dialogues’). Vocalist, member of improvisation ensemble ‘tsarapina’ (‘scratch’). Editor of archive project in scientific and critical journal about music ‘Music Academy’ (2024, 2025).
Maxim Sosnovenko (Petrozavodsk, Russia) is a musicologist, guitarist. Born in Vladivostok. Graduated from the Primorsky College of Arts. Currently a student of the Petrozavodsk Conservatory, majoring in musicology. Assistant to the Chief Director of the Music Theatre of the Republic of Karelia. Together with V. Dudin, the author of “Unusual Lectures” in the Music Theatre. Head of the project “Laboratory of Contemporary Performing Arts at the Petrozavodsk Theatre.” Special attention is paid to the study of contemporary academic music, especially French music.
Students – Sound-engineers:
Sveta Zheleznova (Moscow, Russia) is an engineer, improviser, and indie musician. She has taken part in improvisation laboratories (XIV International Academy of Composers by MECM 2024 – improvisation course; Improscheme at CEAM 2025) and various festivals (Gnesin Contemporary Music Week 2024; Prepared Surroundings 2024). She performs with the improvisation band Snezhnye Svesy, collaborating with choreographers and visual artists, and has participated in the festivals Improscheme and New Classics, as well as in concerts of the Improvdom community. As an engineer, she collaborated with composer Alina Mukhametrakhimova (work with a light head), and with the LYM ART company and CEAM, creating a performance with robots.
Anna Pryakhina (Murmansk, Russia) — multimedia artist, creator of technological and sound objects, developer of circuit bending & sound devices, sound artist and livecoder. Lives and works in Murmansk. Member of the self-organization “Community 22”, head of the “Art & Science” and “Jewelry Art” departments at the innovative center for additional education for children and adolescents “Rodina”, Murmansk. Mediums: technological art, Art & Science, sound art, live coding, circuit bending, photography.
Roman Seliverstov (Moscow, Russia) — engineer, electroacoustic improviser, educational project manager. Participant of sound studies labs by Kotä Records, free improvisation lab at GES-2, Improschema Festival labs, Academy in Tchaikovsky 2024, and Prepared Surroundings festival by soundartist.ru. His work explores prepared guitar, objects, sound processing and synthesis in Max/MSP, probability, as well as extending the possibilities of instruments through sensors and Arduino-based interfaces.
Pavel Surkov (Moscow, Russia) — is a sound engineer, technician, and sound designer. His work encompasses theatrical and concert sound engineering for classical and experimental forms. Among his most notable projects are operas and performances by Boris Yukhananov (Elektroteatr Stanislavsky). ”Octavia. Trepanation”, “Pinocchio” — performer of the electroacoustic score; “Sverliytsy” — sound engineer for works for orchestra with electronics; “Nonsensoryki Drimsa” — sound engineer for works for orchestra with electronics; “Picnic” — engineering, sound design.
Students – Improvisers:
Erkin Gazizov (Vanya Limb, Kazan, Russia) — musician and composer. He works with experimental and electronic music, sound design, and interdisciplinary projects. Since 2010, his works have been released on international and Russian labels, including Opal Tapes, Industrial Complexx, FANCYMUSIC, and Incompetence Records. He has performed at festivals and concerts in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tbilisi, and across Russia. He has collaborated with institutions such as GES-2, the Russian Museum, and the Tretyakov Gallery in Samara, creating music for films, performances, installations, and VR projects. In 2025 he took part in the «Sounding House of Sofia laboratory» by Synesthesia Lab.
Ivan Grebenschikov (Moscow, Russia). Born in 1993 in Moscow, an applied mathematician by education, works in mathematical modeling in urban development. Author of music for more than 10 performances in theaters of Moscow, London, Yekaterinburg, Vladimir and others.
Discography includes 7 albums, 4 of which were released on the label of contemporary academic and improvisational music FANCYMUSIC.
Anna Smorodnikova (Saint-Petersburg, Russia) was born and raised in Yekaterinburg, graduated from the Ural College of Music, currently studying at the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory (5th year).
Anna took part in the reMusik.org festival, MusicAeterna baroque music laboratories and the MCME contemporary music workshop.
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