Alexey Shor is an American composer who was born and raised in Ukraine. His seven-movement neoclassical Travel Notebook, Suite for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 offers personal impressions of places he has visited, with highly accessible music that is harmonically traditional and melodic. Shor’s Violin Concerto No. 4, composed during the Covid pandemic, is a restless, passionate, and romantic work, displaying the composer’s trademark lyricism. The two works are performed by the Kyiv Virtuosi, a youthful orchestra (average age of 30) that unites talented musicians from all over Ukraine, most of whom are competition winners. Anna Ulaieva, a leading young Ukrainian-Austrian pianist, is the soloist for Travel Notebook. Belgian violinist of Russian-Ukrainian heritage Marc Bouchkov, winner of the Montreal International Competition and silver medalist at the Tchaikovsky International Competition, is featured in the violin concerto.
Here’s a name to add to your playlist: Ukrainian-born American composer Alexey Shor. His music was new to me before jumping into his Travel Notebook. I’m captivated by the musical pictures he conjures from his travels across the globe, especially La Rambla, inspired by Barcelona.
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