Lydia Evgenevna Kavina (; born 8 September 1967) is a

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 ...

n-British

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

player, based in Oxfordshire, UK. The granddaughter of

Léon Theremin Leon Theremin (born Lev Sergeyevich Termen rus, Лев Сергеевич Термéн, p=ˈlʲef sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ tɨrˈmʲen; – 3 November 1993) was a Russian and Soviet inventor, most famous for his invention of the theremin, one o ...

's first cousin, Soviet anthropologist and primatologis
Mikhail Nesturkh
Kavina was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and began studying the instrument under the direction of Léon Theremin when she was nine years old. Five years later, she gave her first theremin concert, which marked the beginning of a musical career that has led to numerous concert, theatre, radio and television performances around the world. Kavina has appeared as a solo performer at such prestigious venues as the ''

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

'' in London, ''

Elbphilharmonie The Elbphilharmonie (; "Elbe Philharmonic Hall"), popularly nicknamed Elphi, is a concert hall in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany, on the Grasbrook peninsula of the Elbe River. It is among the largest in the world. The new glassy con ...

'' in Hamburg, ''

Royal Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb Architectural acoustics, acoustics place it among the ...

'' in Amsterdam, ''Bolshoi Zal'' (Great Hall) of the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

, Moscow International Art Centre with National Philharmonic of Russia under

Vladimir Spivakov Vladimir Teodorovich Spivakov (Russian: Влади́мир Теодо́рович Спивако́в; born 12 September 1944) is a Soviet and Russian conductor and violinist best known for his work with the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra. Spiva ...

and Bellevue Palace in Berlin, the residence of the German President. She has also performed at leading festivals, including Caramoor with the Orchestra St. Luke's, New York's Lincoln Center Festival, Holland Music Festival, Martinu Festival, Electronic Music Festival in Burge and Moscow “Avantgarde”. Kavina performs most of the classical theremin repertoire, including popular works for theremin by

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...

Joseph Schillinger Joseph Moiseyevich Schillinger (Russian: Иосиф Моисеевич Шиллингер, (other sources: ) – 23 March 1943) was a composer, music theorist, and composition teacher who originated the Schillinger System of Musical Composition ...

, and ''Spellbound'' by Miklos Rozsa, as well as ''Equatorial'' by

Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coined ...

and the lesser known ''Testament'' by Nicolas Obouchov. In addition to giving concerts, Kavina is a composer of music for theremin and teaches the instrument in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Carolina Eyck Carolina Eyck (born 26 December 1987) is a German- Sorb musician specialising in playing the Theremin, an electronic instrument. Her performances around the world have helped to promote the unusual musical instrument. Biography German-born music ...

was one of her students. Together with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

, she played theremin for

Howard Shore Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer and conductor noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit'' film trilogies. ...

's soundtrack of the Oscar-winning film ''

Ed Wood Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker, actor, and pulp novel author. In the 1950s, Wood directed several low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult cla ...

'', as well as for '' eXistenZ'' (also by Shore), ''

The Machinist ''The Machinist'' is a 2004 psychological thriller film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Scott Kosar. It stars Christian Bale as the title character, a machinist struggling with guilt, paranoia, and delusion after being unable to sleep ...

'' and ''

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain ''The Electrical Life of Louis Wain'' is a 2021 biographical film, biographical comedy-drama film directed by Will Sharpe, from a story by Simon Stephenson, and screenplay by Stephenson and Sharpe. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch (as the ecce ...

''. She played the role of theremin performer in the film '' Me and Kaminski'' Full cast and crew for Me and Kaminki https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1369667/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm (2015) Additionally, Kavina has recorded several compact discs and is the subject of an instructional video from the theremin manufacturer

Moog Music Moog Music Inc. () is an American synthesizer company based in Asheville, North Carolina. It was founded in 1953 as R. A. Moog Co. by Robert Moog and his father and was renamed Moog Music in 1972. Its early instruments included the Moog synthesi ...

. She was also featured in stage productions such as '' Alice'' and ''

The Black Rider ''The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets'' is a self-billed "musical fable" in the avant-garde tradition created through the collaboration of theatre director Robert Wilson, musician Tom Waits, and writer William S. Burroughs. Wil ...

'' (both conceived and directed by Robert Wilson, with music by

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

) at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, and in collaboration with the Russian experimental surf band

Messer Chups Messer Chups is a Surf music, surf rock band from Saint Petersburg, Russia. The group was formed in 1998 by composer and guitarist Oleg Fomchenkov. History The band was founded by Oleg Fomchenkov (also known as Oleg Gitarkin) who had previously ...

. Lydia Kavina is an active promoter of new experimental music for the theremin. Her recent project
Nicht zu fassen
' for theremin and accordion, together with Roman Yusipey, includes works by S.Gubaidulina, J.Cage, V.Poleva, as well as Kavina's compositions, it was performed in Germany and Ukraine. In collaboration with

Barbara Buchholz Barbara Buchholz (8 December 195910 April 2012) was a Berlin-based German musician and composer. She was one of the leading theremin players of the world. Life Buchholz was born in Duisburg. She studied flute, guitar, bass guitar and singing at ...

and Kamerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, Kavina performed a number of concerts of contemporary works for theremin in Germany in 2005–2007 as part of the ''Touch! Don't Touch! – Music for Theremin'' project. The most notable project of her recent career is her theremin solo in 4th Symphony by Ch. Ives, under Kent Nagano (Hamburg and Zurich, 2018-2019),
Bählamms Fest
', an opera by Olga Neuwirth (Vienna, Hamburg, Luzern, Bochum, 1999-2021) ''The Little Mermaid'', a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

Lera Auerbach Lera Auerbach (russian: Лера Авербах, born Valeria Lvovna Averbakh, russian: Валерия Львовна Авербах; October 21, 1973) is a Soviet-born American classical composer and concert pianist.

, choreographed by

John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He has been the director and chief choreographer of Hamburg Ballet since 1973. Five years later he founded the Hamburg Ballet School, which also inc ...

in Copenhagen New Opera Haus (2005),

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''General ...

(2007-2015) and The National Ballet of China in Beijing (2012). Kavina also played the solo in Danny Elfman's UK concert tour with BBC concert orchestra and London Concert orchestra (2013-2014). Kavina has completed a number of her own compositions for theremin including a Concerto for Theremin and Symphony Orchestra, first performed by the Boston Modern Orchestra under the direction of Gil Rose. Kavina holds a degree in composition from The Moscow Conservatory, where she also completed a postgraduate assistantship program.

CDs

* '' Music from the Ether'', Mode records, 1999 * '' Concerto per Theremin. Live in Italy'', Teleura, 2000 * '' Touch! Don't Touch! – Music for Theremin'' with

, Wergo, 2006 * ''Spellbound!'', Mode records, 2008 *
Waves&Strings
', with Sviatoslav Belonogov, Art service, 2020 Collaborations * ''

Music for Films III ''Music for Films III'' is the third entry in Brian Eno's "Music for Films" series. Unlike entries in the past, this record features tracks credited to Brian Eno, Roger Eno, Michael Brook, and Harold Budd among others, with Brian Eno involved w ...

'' Music by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

, Opal Records, 1988 * '' Ed Wood: Original Soundtrack Recording'' Music by

, Hollywood Records, 1994 * '' eXistenZ, Soundtrack'' Music by Howard Shore, RCA Victor, 1999 * '' Black Black Magic'' Music by

, Solnze Records, 2002 * '' Crazy Price'' Music by Messer Chups, Solnze Records, 2003 * '' Vamp Babes, Upgrade Version'' Music by Messer Chups, Solnze Records, 2004 * '' Baehlamms Fest'' Music by

Olga Neuwirth Olga Neuwirth (born 4 August 1968 in Graz) is an Austrian classical composer, visual artist and author. She gained fame mainly through her operas and music theater works, which often deal with topical and decidedly political themes of identity, ...

, Kairos, 2003 * ''

The Machinist, Soundtrack ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' Music by

Roque Baños Roque Baños López is a Spanish music composer. Baños graduated from Boston's Berklee College of Music in 1995 and has since scored both Spanish and English-language films. He has received numerous awards for his compositional work, including t ...

, Melodramma Records, 2005 *
Theremin 100
' by The NY Theremin society, 2020

Videos

* '' Mastering the Theremin'',

Big Briar Moog Music Inc. () is an American synthesizer company based in Asheville, North Carolina. It was founded in 1953 as R. A. Moog Co. by Robert Moog and his father and was renamed Moog Music in 1972. Its early instruments included the Moog synthesi ...

, 1995 * ''Concerto per Theremin. Live in Italy'', Teleura, 2001 * '' Making the Steamroller Fly, 1997, as herself.

References

External links

Official website

LYDIA KAVINA PLAYS THEREMIN Channel on YouTube

An interview with Lydia Kavina

at Mode Records
Concerto per Theremin: the Live CD from Lydia Kavina
*
Lydia Kavina performing Debussy's "Claire de Lune"
on YouTube

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kavina, Lydia Theremin players 1967 births Living people Musicians from Moscow Moscow Conservatory alumni Women in electronic music Russian expatriates in England