Lera Auerbach — composer with roots in the USSR
Lera Auerbach is a Russian-American composer, pianist, poet, and visual artist born in Chelyabinsk who has become one of the most widely performed composers of her generation. Her works are performed by leading orchestras, opera houses, and soloists worldwide, and she has held major posts including Principal Guest Conductor at the Sydney Symphony.
Tracing the roots — Chelyabinsk
Born in Chelyabinsk in 1973 and trained at the Gnessin School in Moscow, Auerbach emigrated to the United States at age 18. She carries the full weight of the Russian classical music tradition — its depth, its emotional extremity, its technical rigour — into a contemporary international voice that is entirely her own.
Chelyabinsk. At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.
A career defined by ambition
"Music is the only language where you can say everything without saying anything."