Alexey Larin was born in 1954 in Saratov, in the Volga River Valley of Russia. He began his music education at the Moscow Choral School for Boys and later attended the Gnessin Music School, where he studied composition with Professor N.Peiko. Mr. Larin himself began to teach at the Gnessin Music School (later called Gnessin Academy of Music) in 1978, eventually becoming a professor of composition and orchestration in 1998. He has become an important teacher of young composers in Russia, and has published articles on his pedagogical and compositional principles and aesthetics (e.g. in Musical Academy magazine).
Mr. Larin's compositions have been performed by such esteemed artists as V.Fedoseev, V.Dudarova, I.Golovchin, K.Orbelyan, V.Ponkin, A.Vedernikov, F.Mansurov, V.Kozhukhar, D.Orlov, V.Minin, S.Gusev, L.Yermakova, L.Litsova, V.Semenyuk, G.Dmitryak, V.Sudakov, N.Nekrasov, N.Kalinin, S.Kolobkov, P.Burchuladse, R.Holl, V.Matorin, M.Krutikov, P.Gluboky, S.Baikov, A.Safiulin, M.Shaposhnikova, F.Lips, M.Gorobtsov, N.Babkina and many others. Likewise, Mr. Larin himself regularly takes part in performing his music as a pianist, organist, conductor and member of the choir. He has participated in numerous performances (more than 130) of his cantata Christmas Carols, his oratorio Russian Passion, and other works in Austria, Cuba, Cyprus, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Vietnam and Russia.
As seen here at the Classical Archives, Mr. Larin's output focuses largely on choral music, such as the Russian Passion, featured here at the Classical Archives - the first instance of a Russian setting of this sacred vocal tradition, using tradition Russian Orthodox texts, along with those of the New Testament and Russian folk texts. Likewise important are works involving Russian folk instruments, often stretching the traditional uses of these instruments. These genres then compliment his interest in chamber and symphonic writing, as well as creat