Sofia Gubaidulina

Born in Chistopol on 24 October 1931, died on 13 March 2025; Sofia Gubaidulina studied piano and composition at the Kazan Conservatory and at the Moscow Conservatory, in the latter with Nikolai Peiko, and continued her training as a postgraduate student with Wissarion Schebalin. From 1963 she worked freelance; her work was at times subject to reprisals under the Soviet regime. Gidon Kremer’s advocacy of her violin concerto “Offertorium” (1980) made her internationally known. In 1992 she moved to Germany. Religious themes mark a large part of her work; alongside these she wrote numerous film scores. She was awarded the Japanese Praemium Imperiale (1998); she was a member of the Orden Pour le Mérite.