Markevich, Igor

Born July 14 (27), 1912, in Kiev. French conductor, pianist, and composer. Of Russian origin. Grandson of the historian and ethnologist N. A. Markevich.

Markevich, a pupil of the conductor H. Scherchen and the famous pianists A. Cortot and N. Boulanger, has lived abroad since 1913. He composed his first works in 1928. Among his compositions are the oratorio Paradise Lost (1935) and the ballets Rebus (1931) and L’Envoi d’lcare (1933). During World War II, Markevich participated in the Resistance. Since the war he has worked as a conductor and has appeared before European and American audiences. He performed in the USSR for the first time in 1960. Since 1957, Markevich has been conducting the Paris Lamoureux Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He has written several books on music.