Sergey Anatolyevich Kuryokhin (russian: Серге́й Анато́льевич Курёхин, also transliterated as Sergei Kuriokhin, Sergei Kurekhin, Sergueï Kouriokhine, Sergey Kuriokhin, etc.; nicknamed "The Captain"; 16 June 1954 – 9 July 1996) was a Russian composer, pianist, music director, experimental artist, film actor and writer, based in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Former keyboardist for the rock band

Aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

Biography

Kuryokhin began his performing career as a piano and keyboard player with a school band in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. After playing with professional jazz bands, as well as popular rock musicians, Kuryokhin went through several stages in his career and eventually became one of the most recognisable names and faces in Russia during the 1980s and 1990s. By the end of his life, he had emerged as an avant-garde film composer, performance artist, and film actor. Outside Russia, he is primarily known as a jazz and experimental musician, through his works released since 1981 on UK's

Leo Records Leo Records is a British record company and label which releases jazz from Russian, American, and British musicians. It concentrates on free jazz. Leo Records was founded in 1979 by Leo Feigin (also known under his broadcasting name Aleksei Le ...

, as well as his concert tours with

Pop-Mechanics Pop-Mechanics (Popular Mechanics) () was a musical collective founded by Sergey Kuryokhin in 1984. The line-up of Pop-Mechanics often changed; musicians from rock groups such as Aquarium, Kino, Strannye Igry, AVIA, and Auktyon took part in its per ...

. He also contributed to several

albums, including ', ', and ''

Radio Africa ''Radio Africa'' (russian: Радио Африка) is an album by the Russian rock band Aquarium. The album's style presents an eclectic mix of influences: new wave, art rock, post-punk, jazz, Psychedelic rock, psychedelia, honky tonk, free i ...

''. His work in film includes starring in and composing music for , a comedic

pseudo-documentary A pseudo-documentary or fake documentary is a film or video production that takes the form or style of a documentary film but does not portray real events. Rather, scripted and fictional elements are used to tell the story. The pseudo-documentary, ...

about World War I, composing the soundtrack to the neo-noir Russian horror film ''

Mister Designer ''Mister Designer'' (russian: Господин оформитель, Gospodin oformitel) is a 1987 Soviet horror film produced and directed by Oleg Teptsov, and based on the short story ''The Gray Automobile'' by Alexander Grin. Plot Set in St. P ...

'', and playing the lead role in ''

Dude - Water Winner ''Lokh - Water Winner'' (russian: Лох — победитель воды) is a 1991 Soviet crime film directed by :ru:Тигай, Аркадий Григорьевич, Arkadiy Tigay. Plot The film tells about the engineer Gorelikov, who, toge ...

''. Kuryokhin shot to fame after creating one of the first popular

media virus Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

es in the Russian media. It was one of his semi-improvised acts of performance art, broadcast live on Russian television in May 1991. As a guest on the popular talk show ''Fifth Wheel'', Kuryokhin provided "proof" that

Lenin was a mushroom Lenin was a mushroom (russian: Ленин — гриб) was a highly influential televised hoax by Soviet musician Sergey Kuryokhin and reporter Sergey Sholokhov. It was first broadcast on 17 January 1991 on Leningrad Television. The hoax took ...

. During the 1990s, Kuryokhin was a board member of the St. Petersburg City Council for Culture and Tourism. In 1995 Kuryokhin joined the

National Bolshevik Party The National Bolshevik Party (NBP; russian: Национал-большевистская партия), also known as the Nazbols (russian: нацболы), operated from 1993 to 2007 as a Russian political party with a political program of Nat ...

Death

He died of a rare heart condition, cardiac

sarcoma A sarcoma is a malignant tumor, a type of cancer that arises from transformed cells of mesenchymal (connective tissue) origin. Connective tissue is a broad term that includes bone, cartilage, fat, vascular, or hematopoietic tissues, and sarcom ...

, aged 42 in 1996, and was laid to rest in the

Komarovo Komarovo may refer to: *Komarovo, Saint Petersburg, a municipal settlement under jurisdiction of Saint Petersburg, Russia * Komarovo, Novgorod Oblast, a former urban-type settlement in Novgorod Oblast Novgorod Oblast (russian: Новгоро́ ...

Cemetery, near the tomb of

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...

Legacy

The

Saint-Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Annual International Music Festival SKIF (

Sergey Kuriokhin International Festival Sergey may refer to: * Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name) * Sergey, Switzerland, a municipality in Switzerland * ''Sergey'' (wasp), a genus in subfamily Doryctinae The Doryctinae or doryctine wasps are ...

) is named after him. Kuryokhin festivals annually take place in Berlin, Amsterdam, and New York. In 2004, the Sergey Kuryokhin Foundation and the

Kuryokhin Center The Kuryokhin Center, or more extended the Sergey Kuryokhin Center for Modern Art, is a non-profit cultural centre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The centre was founded in 2004 and named after the Russian avant garde composer Sergey Kuryokhin Serge ...

were founded. The foundation collects information about Kuryokhin and the Center organises events in the spirit of the artist. Both are located in the same building, an old cinema in Saint Petersburg. In 2009, the Sergey Kuryokhin Foundation and the Kuryokhin Center established the

Sergey Kuryokhin Contemporary Art Award The Sergey Kuryokhin Contemporary Art Award is an annual art competition hosted by the Kuryokhin Center. The award was established in 2009 and is named after Russian composer Sergey Kuryokhin. Categories for the Sergey Kuryokhin Contemporary Art ...

Discography

*''

The Ways of Freedom ''The Ways of Freedom'' is a solo piano album by Sergey Kuryokhin. Releases and reception The album was first released by the Soviet label Melodiya. It was reissued by Leo Records. ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' wrote that Kuryokhin "can sound a ...

'' (

, 1981) *''

Tragedy in Rock Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...

'' (1988) *'' Mr. Designer'' (1989) *''

Popular Science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

'' (1989) with

Henry Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of ...

*'' Album for Children'' (1991) *'' Opera for the Rich'' (1991) *'' Some combinations of fingers and passion'' (1991) *'' Sparrow Oratorium/Four Seasons'' (1994) *''Friends Afar (Sound Wave Records, 1996) with Kenny Millions *''Dear John Cage (Long Arm Records, 1996) with Kenny Millions *''2 For Tea'' (Long Arms Records, 1998) with David Moss

Other works

*Music for the stage production of the Chekhov's ''Chaika'' (aka ''The Seagull'') (1994) *Music for the Russian TV series ''Anna Karenina'' (2007) Also wrote Title Music for entire BBC TV series Comrades 1985 one episode of which featured him and other Leningrad Musicians and his Orchestra Popular mechanics *''

'' (1988) *''

Buster's Bedroom ''Buster's Bedroom'' is a 1990 independent German comedy film directed by Rebecca Horn. The film follows a young woman with an infatuation for Buster Keaton. The film was shown at the Marché du Film of the Cannes Film Festival in May 1990. Later t ...

'' (1990) *Leading role as Pavel Gorelikov in ''

'' (1991)

References

External links

*
BiographyFull discography at Russian Association of Independent GenresOfficial website of the Kuryokhin Centre for Modern Art
*
"Kuryokhin"
documentary film (director Vladimir Nepevny)
Excerpt on Sergey Kuryokhin's Popular Mechanics
from BBC documentary Comrades: All that Jazz * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuryokhin, Sergey 1954 births 1996 deaths People from Murmansk Soviet musicians Russian musicians National Bolshevik Party politicians Deaths from cancer in Russia Deaths from heart cancer Russian record producers Leo Records artists Counterculture of the 1990s