Mikhail Alperin was a Soviet and Russian jazz pianist and composer. One of the first jazzmen to emerge in his native Moldova, he played in few jazz combos, and in 1980, he formed one of the first jazz ensembles in Moldavian SSR. He moved to Moscow in the 1980s and founded the Moscow Art Trio with Arkady Shilkloper and folk singer/reedist Sergey Starostin. He has also worked with Huun Huur Tu. From 1993 to 2018 he lived in Oslo, Norway; he was professor of music at the Norwegian Academy of Music. He released several works on ECM Records. He died on 11 May 2018 at the age of 61. Alperin has found his own unique music idioma which fuses folk melodies, classical traditions, and free improvisation.

This concert is dedicated to the memory of the world acclaimed great musician. Pieces from all three ECM records – “Wave of Sorrow”, “At Home”, and “Her First Dance” – to be performed, added with original compositions of musicians of the trio.

The featured musicians are:
Arkady Shilkloper. He is a world famous French horn player, who plays numerous other reeds, ethnic as well as classical, like flugelhorn. He is a member of honour of the International French Horn Society. As a pioneer of new sound and music, he goes beyond all boundaries. He gained recognition in Europe as a member of Moscow Art Trio (with Sergey Starostin and great late Misha Alperin). He performed with bands as diverse as Vienna Art Orchestra, WDR Big Band, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band (USA), and Vince Mendoza Orchestra, among many others.

Dmitry Ilugdin. One of the most famous Russian jazz pianists and composers. Ilugdin is a Gnessin Academy graduate, and a laureate of Touth Prize “Triumf”. During 10 years he was the pianist of the band of the legendary saxophonist Alexey Kozlov. With Kozlov, Ilugdin released an album called “Rethought Classic”, and released by ArtBeat Records. In 2017, “Reflection” followed, to be re-released on vinyl next year, and to made it to Europe Jazz Media Chart. In May of 2018, Dmitry is a Russian “featured artist” at Bremen’s Jazz Ahead.

Petr Ivshin. Virtuoso drummer, composer, arranger. Gnessin Academy graduate. Ivshin performed with American jazz stars such as David Sanborn, Chuck Loeb, Eric Marienthal, Dave Koz, Phil Perry, Brian Simpson, among others.