Alexandra Stan

Aleksandra "Alya" Nikolayevna Pakhmutova (Russian: Александра Николаевна Пахмутова; born November 9, 1929) has remained one of the best known figures in Soviet and later Russian popular music since she first achieved fame in her homeland in the 1960s. She was born on November 9, 1929 in Beketovka (now Volgograd), former Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, and began playing the piano and composing music at an early age. She was admitted to the prestigious Moscow Conservatory and graduated in 1953. In 1956 she completed a post-graduate course led by the outstanding composer Vissarion Shebalin. Her career is notable for her success in a range of different genres. She has composed pieces for the symphony orchestra (The Russian Suite, the concerto for the trumpet and the orchestra, the Youth Overture, the concerto for the orchestra); the ballet Illumination; music for children (cantatas, a series of choir pieces, and numerous songs); and songs and music for over a dozen different movies from Out of This World in 1958 to Because of Mama in 2001.

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