Igor Mikhailovich Zhukov (born 1936) is a Russian pianist, conductor and sound engineer.

Zhukov was born in Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...

 in 1936 but his family moved to Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 in the following year. Four years later, they were evacuated to Vyatka

Kirov, Kirov Oblast

Kirov , formerly known as Vyatka and Khlynov, is a city in northeastern European Russia, on the Vyatka River, and the administrative center of Kirov Oblast. Population: -History:...

 (then known as Kirov

Kirov, Kirov Oblast

Kirov , formerly known as Vyatka and Khlynov, is a city in northeastern European Russia, on the Vyatka River, and the administrative center of Kirov Oblast. Population: -History:...

) as a result of the Second World War. After the war, they returned to Moscow, where Zhukov studied in the Conservatory in 1955, studying first with Emil Gilels

Emil Gilels

Emil Grigoryevich Gilels was a Soviet pianist, widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.His last name is sometimes transliterated Hilels.-Biography:...

 and then, in 1955, with Heinrich Neuhaus

Heinrich Neuhaus

Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus was a Soviet pianist and pedagogue of German extraction. He taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1922 to 1964. He was made a People's Artist of the RSFSR in 1956...

. He graduated in 1960, having won second prize in the Long-Thibaud Piano Competition

Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition

The Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition is an international classical music competition for pianists and violinists that has operated in France since 1943. It was created by the pianist Marguerite Long and the violinist Jacques Thibaud...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

Apart from a career as a pianist, Zhukov also conducted his own ensemble - the Moscow Chamber Orchestra

Moscow Chamber Orchestra

The Moscow Chamber Orchestra is a Chamber Orchestra based in Moscow, Russia, and assigned to the Moscow Philharmonia, a State-run enterprise, formerly under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and now, Ministry of Culture of Russian Federation.-Founding, 1955 :Rudolf Barshai was a virtuoso...

 until his retirement from conducting in 1994, and was the pianist of the long-running Zhukov Piano Trio which was founded in 1963 and continued performing until 1980. (The other members were the violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

ist Grigory Feighin and cellist Valentin Feighin.) The trio was noted for its "Historic Concerts" which featured repertoire spanning the 17th to the 20th centuries.

Zhukov has made recordings on the Melodiya/CBS label among others (e.g. the complete Scriabin

Alexander Scriabin

Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system,...

sonatas). Zhukov also has a passionate interest in recording, and says of himself "I'm the best pianist among recording engineers, and the best recording engineer among pianists".

Sources

• Rueger, Christoph. The multiple talents of Igor Zhukov. Essay included with The Russian Piano School Vol 16: Igor Zhukov, Melodia CD 74321 332142, 1996