Misbakhova/Belarusian Sco - Airat Ichmouratov: Letter from an Unkown Woman, Three Romances for Viola, Concerto Gross No. 1

Montreal-based since 1998, Airat Ichmouratov (b. 1973) traces his musical roots back to the dominant culture in his native Tatarstan in Soviet times: �It was definitely the Russian school of composers�, he says, without rancour. �I�m influenced to this day by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff, and Tchaikovsky. My own musical style has evolved out of this rich heritage.� There�s more. The Volga Tatar-born Russian-Canadian composer learned to play klezmer music while busking, together with his viola-playing wife, as new immigrants on the streets and M�tro of Montreal. �I�ve been touring the world for twenty years as a clarinettist with the Montreal band Kleztory and find myself, a Muslim-born musician, playing klezmer. This, too, is now a distinctive part of my musical language.�