SERGEY LETOV

Sergey Letov was born in Semipalatinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan, in 1956 and then lived in Omsk, Siberia, where lived his brother Egor Letov (1964 - 2008). Sergey Letov resides in Moscow region since 1975.

First public performance as a soloist with Percussion Ensemble of Mark Pekarsky took place in The Central House of Artist in 1982 in Moscow .

1983-1993 - collaboration with Sergey Kuryokhin (duo, combo and big band POP MECHANICS). Concerts with POP-MECHANICS and Sergey Kuryokhin - all over Soviet Union, Finland, Italy, France, Denmark.
Since 1986 - collaboration with the Gypsy singer Valentina Ponomareva. Duo Ponomareva-Letov performed in USSR, Switzerland.

In 1985 Sergey Letov has founded winds ensemble TRI-O (Arcady Shilkloper - French horn, Arcady Kiritchenko - tuba, euphonium, vocal, later - Alexander Alexandrov - bassoon, Youry Parfenov - trumpet). TRI-O performed at almost every jazz festival in USSR, since 1988 TRI-O played in Poland, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Lithuania (Vilnius Jazz Festival), Germany, Austria, Italy, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, USA, including such clubs as Knitting Factory, Anyway (New York), Bimhuis (Amsterdam), Moods (Zurich), Sud des Alpes (Geneva), Blue Tomato (Vienna).

Sergey Letov is interested in various projects, contacts, new partnerships. Among them - German World music band EMBRYO (CD - EMBRYO 2000 live vol. 1 Indigo 9753-2), Danish band NEW JUNGLE ORCHESTRA (concerts in Denmark, Germany and Russia), Italian composer and bass player Enrico Fazio (concert-performance in Noci Jazz Festival, 2 CDs), singer Sainkho Namchylak, Americans: cello player Tristan Honsinger, viola and violin player LaDonna Smith (concerts in USA and Russia), guitar player and singer Misha Feigin , harpist Susan Allen, pianist Matthew Shipp, South African drummer Louis Moholo, British-German saxophone and clarinet player Tobias Delius, German saxophone player Vlad Bysrov, Akira Sakata, Koichi Makigami, Kazutoki Umezu, Masahiko Sato, Yoriyuki Harada, Isao Suzuki, SXQ saxophone quintet, Ryoji Hojito, Keiko Komori, Ryuichi Yoshida (Japan) a.o.

Sergey Letov participated in happenings and performances of Moscow conceptualists - Collective Actions, later with Andrei Monastyrsky, and TOTART since 1984, with Rea Nikonova since 1995, played at many art exhibitions in the galleries in Moscow, Bremen, Berlin, Smolensk.

Sergey Letov performed also with modern poets and writers: Nina Iskrenko, Dmitry Alexandrovich Prigov (1940—2007), Lev Rubinstein, Gennady Katsov, Nina Sadur, Andrei Bitov, Vyacheslav Kupriyanov, Sergey Birjukow, Michel Houellebecq (France), Valere Novarina (France), Anna Alchuk (1955-2008), Vladimir Druk, Tatiana Scherbina, Nikolay Baitov and Svetlana Litvak, Yulia Skorodumova, Konstantin Kedrov, Elena Katsiuba, Liudmila Hodynskaia, Erkki Lappalainen (Finland - Sweden), Marina Kniazeva, Lesya Tyshkovska. In a duo with Alexander Alexandrov he participated in the international festival MILANOPOESIA-91 (Italy). Solo in the videoproject by Vladimir Kupreyanov at ART ATHINA-2007 (Athens, Greece). In 2009 Sergey Letov participated in Stuttgart international symposium "Subversive Practices. Art under Conditions of Political Repression. 60s–80s / South America / Europe".

Since 2002 Sergey Letov plays in Saxophone Quartet (or sometimes trio) Russian Sax Mafia (tours over Russia, Germany, Lithuania, Great Britain).

In 2002 Sergey Letov started Malevich Project, and later with Alexei Borisov and Ivan Sokolovsky - Suprematistic Project (fashion design + audio/video).
Since 1984 Sergey Letov plays with rock and alternative bands, such as Aquarium, Tsentr, DK, Alissa, DDT, Vesyolye Kartinki, Doctor, Nochnoi Prospect, Atonal Syndrom, Soft Animals and Ivan Sokolovsky, Grazhdanskaya Oborona and Egor Letov, Umka, Rada and Ternovnik, Vadim Pevzner, Olga Arefyeva, Kaftan Smeha, HLAM, Konstantin "Kuzma UO" Ryabinov.

Since 1986 Sergey Letov collaborates with actress Nika Kossenkova. In the 1988-1989 he worked in Theatre of Improvisation in Moscow, in 1990-1991 in Moscow Creative Workshops (Mikhail Mokeev), in 1989-1992 and then since 1996 in the School of Dramatic Art of Anatoly Vassiliev, in 1991-1992 in Centro Sperimentale di Teatro a Roma (Sharoo and Reza Kheradmand), in 1991-1992 with clown company "Licedei-4" in France, Taganka Theatre since 1996 - "Moscow- Petushki" (Valentin Ryzhiy) and "Marat and Marquis de Sade" (Yuriy Lyubimov), Kinetic Theatre of Sasha Pepelaev (1997-1998), Saumarkt Theater in Feldkirch, Austria in 1998 - Hochzeitsreise by Vladimir Sorokin (Andreas Marent), Moscow Art Academic Theatre (MKhT by A.P. Chekhov) - 1999-2000, Theatre "Chelovek" in Moscow - since 2001 - "Entre Nous" by Ionesco, Kharms, Valer Novarina a.o. Sergey Letov appears as Tiresias in "Antigone - Forever" by Sophocles (2008).
Another form of Sergey Letov' activities is composing and playing music for cinema (Aleinikov brothers, Savva Kulish, Tatiana Chivikova, Yury Zmorovich a. o.), video, Radio and TV (more than 10 movies). Since 1996 Sergey Letov and Alexei Borisov play background music for the live performances of the German movie by Friedrich Wielhelm Murnau "Faust. Eine Volksage", since 2004 - Metropolis by Fritz Lang. The program SILENT MOVIE - LIVE MUSIC by Sergey Letov was awarded a grant of the President of the Russian Federation for Culture and Ar in 2010.

Mr. S. Letov has written music for TV films by Alexei Burykin - "Nikolai Erdman - the shot of "(2004) and "I, genius, Nikolai Glazkov" (2008).

Sergey Letov plays soprano, tenor, baritone and C-Melody saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, piccolo and alto flute, Bashkirian kurai, Iranian ney, Akai EWI USB.

Since 2004 he reads the cours of lectures on modern music at Institute of Journalismand Literary Creativity in Moscow.