Aleksandr S. Uskov

Alexander Sergeyevich Uskov was born in 1977 in Moscow. He studied bayan at Children’s Music School No. 17 in Moscow with V. P. Masalov, and at the A. G. Schnittke Moscow State Music College (bayan with M. A. Pankin and I. G. Purits, garmon with V. I. Malyarov, and gusli with L. Ya. Zhuk).

In 2001 he graduated from the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music with a degree in bayan performance (class of Honoured Art Worker of Russia V. F. Belyakov), in 2002 from the St Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts with a degree in gusli performance (class of Honoured Artist of Russia L. Ya. Zhuk), and in 2013 from the Sholokhov Moscow State University for the Humanities with a degree in solo classical singing.

From 2006 to 2009 he pursued postgraduate studies at the Russian Institute for Cultural Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, defending in 2010 his Candidate of Cultural Studies dissertation «Traditional Musical Instruments in Historical‑Cultural and Symbolic Contexts (On the Example of Russian Gusli)».

His concert work actively combines vocal and instrumental performance. His artistry offers a rare example of devoted service to national musical culture, characterised by high professionalism, mature mastery, and constant creative growth, as well as a search for new dimensions in his performance; his repertoire spans a wide range of Russian and Western classics, vocal and instrumental genres from Old Russian chant to ethno‑jazz, along with original works, many of them premieres, including his own compositions.

Uskov is the author of numerous concert programmes successfully presented on Moscow’s main stages, including «Zvenite struny, poyte golosa!», «Gusli i klavesin», «Znakom’tes’, russkiye garmoshki», «Ratnaya slava Rossii», and others.

His performances are consistently marked by virtuosity, positive emotional energy, a distinct romantic uplift, and a deep sense of style and spirit in the music he performs; impeccable taste, natural stage presence, and charisma enable him to achieve outstanding artistic results in a variety of vocal and instrumental genres.

Audiences invariably respond enthusiastically to his mastery of multiple instruments, including bayan, gusli, chromatic garmon, Saratov garmon, livenka, «cherepashka» single‑row garmon, Yelets «piano» garmon, ocarina, zhaleika, whistle flute, kalyuka, kugikly, scythe, musical saw, and others.

Uskov regularly prepares new, original concert programmes, which he presents with success on major stages in Moscow and throughout Russia.

He has toured with acclaim in Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Estonia, the Philippines, China, Qatar, Syria, Tajikistan, France, Eritrea, Cuba, Brazil, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and other countries.

He collaborates actively with the chamber orchestras «Moskovskaya kamerata» and «Vremena goda», the N. P. Osipov National Academic Russian Folk Orchestra, the N. N. Nekrasov Academic Orchestra of Russian Folk Instruments, the L. G. Zykina State Academic Russian Folk Ensemble «Rossiya», the V. V. Andreyev State Academic Russian Orchestra, and the folk‑instrument orchestras of the Kemerovo and Smolensk Philharmonics.

Alexander Uskov plays an active role in projects of the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music and has repeatedly received diplomas for his excellence as an accompanist.

Awards and commendations:

• Moscow City Government Prize «For Contribution to the Development of Culture» (2014);
• commendation from the Abbot of Danilov Monastery «For Charitable Activity in the Preservation and Development of Art and Culture» (2004);
• commendation from the Danilov Monastery Centre for Spiritual Development of Youth (2004);
• V. Gorodovskaya Medal (2004);
• letters of thanks from the President of the Republic of South Ossetia and the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in South Ossetia (2019);
• letters of thanks from the Russian Cultural Centre in Uzbekistan (2019);
• letters of thanks from the National Defence Control Centre of the Russian Federation and the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces V. Gerasimov (2022);
• letters of thanks from the Federal Penitentiary Service Directorate for the Luhansk People’s Republic (August 2023), the FSB Border Guard Directorate in Sevastopol (2023), and the FSB Border Guard Directorate for the Republic of Crimea in Dzhankoy (2023);
• letters of thanks from the FSB Border Guard Directorate for the Republic of Armenia and from the command of the Armavir Border Detachment in Armenia (2023);
• letter of thanks from Clinical Hospital No. 85 of the Federal Medical‑Biological Agency (2023);
• medal «Participant in the Special Military Operation» (2023);
• letter of thanks from the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Tyva (2024).

Competitions:

• laureate of the Open International Competition for Folk‑Instrument Soloists dedicated to the 850th anniversary of Moscow (1997);
• laureate of the Open International Competition for Compositions for Ancient Plucked and Other Folk Instruments dedicated to the 2000th Anniversary of Christianity (1999);
• laureate of the 6th All‑Russian Folk‑Instrument Performance Competition dedicated to V. V. Andreyev (as member of an ensemble, Tver, 2001);
• laureate of the 5th Artiada of the Peoples of Russia;
• Grand Prix laureate of the 3rd International Festival‑Competition for Performers on Multi‑String Fretless Instruments named after V. Gorodovskaya;
• laureate of the 13th Moscow International Festival «Garmonika – dusha Rossii» (2015);
• diploma recipient of the All‑Russian Festival‑Competition of Children’s and Youth Music and Art «Lyubov’yu i yedineniem spasemsya» (2005).

Selected publications:

• Uskov A. S., «Vospitaniye lichnosti v kontekste muzykal’noy traditsii», Vyssheye obrazovaniye v Rossii, 2009, no. 9, pp. 138–142;
• Uskov A. S., «Rol’ kulturnogo naslediya v protsessakh natsional’no‑kul’turnoy identifikatsii lichnosti», Problemy poligrafii i izdatel’skogo dela, 2009, no. 6, pp. 117–128;
• Uskov A. S., «Vozrozhdaya staryye traditsii. Festival’ pamyati D. Lokshina v gorode Karacheve Bryanskoy oblasti», Informatsionny byulleten’ «Narodnik», 2002, no. 1 (37), pp. 2–4;
• Uskov A. S., «Sovremennoye gusel’noye ispolnitel’stvo kak sotsiokul’turnyy fenomen», in XXXII Gagarinskiye chteniya, abstracts of the International Youth Scientific Conference, vol. 7, Moscow, 2006, pp. 98–99;
• Uskov A. S., «Gusli kak instrument inkul’turatsii lichnosti», in Nauki o kulture – shag v XXI vek, annual young‑scholars conference, Moscow, 2006, pp. 244–248;
• Uskov A. S., «Kontsertnaya aktsiya “Ekologiya zvuchashchego prostranstva”», Gusli, 2007, no. 1, p. 46;
• Uskov A. S., «Tembrovoye intonirovaniye na guslyakh», Gusli, 2007, no. 3, pp. 28–34;
• Uskov A. S., «Kul’turologicheskiy analiz muzykal’nogo instrumenta kak material’nogo komponenta protsessa inkul’turatsii lichnosti», in Nauki o kulture – shag v XXI vek, Moscow, 2007, pp. 570–574;
• Uskov A. S., «Sotsiokul’turnyye osobennosti funktsionirovaniya mnogostrunnykh bezgrifnykh instrumentov v usloviyakh sozdaniya yedinogo kulturnogo prostranstva», in Nauki o kulture v XXI veke, Moscow, 2007, pp. 313–317;
• Uskov A. S., «Formirovaniye natsional’no‑kul’turnoy identichnosti sredstvami traditsionnoy muzykal’noy kultury», in Nauki o kulture v XXI veke, Moscow, 2008, pp. 235–239;
• Uskov A. S., Malyarov V. I., Butushin S. I., Kozyrev G. F., «Iskusstvo igry na okarine», teaching‑methodology manual, Moscow, Sovremennaya muzyka, 2016, 138 pp.;
• Uskov A. S., «O nekotorykh tendentsiyakh razvitiya obrazovaniya na garmoni», in Sokhraneniye natsional’nykh traditsiy v narodno‑instrumental’nom iskusstve: problemy i perspektivy, materials of the 5th All‑Russian Conference, Moscow, Soglasie, 2019;
• Uskov A. S., «O nekotorykh tendentsiyakh razvitiya obrazovaniya na garmoni», in Narodnyye instrumenty v russkoy i mirovoy muzykal’noy kulture, 3rd All‑Russian Conference, Tambov, 2019;
• Uskov A. S., Bazikov A. S., Malyarov V. I., «Gusli», booklet of the 14th International Festival «Sozvezdiye masterov», Moscow, 2020;
• Uskov A. S., «Sovremennyy repertuar dlya odnoryadnoy garmoniki “Cherepashki”. V poiskakh formy i soderzhaniya», in Sokhraneniye natsional’nykh traditsiy v narodno‑instrumental’nom iskusstve: problemy i perspektivy, materials of the 4th All‑Russian Conference, Moscow, Probel‑2000, 2020;
• Uskov A. S., «Garmonika‑cherepashka v uchebnoy i kontsertnoy praktike», in Narodnyye instrumenty v russkoy i mirovoy muzykal’noy kulture, 4th All‑Russian Conference with international participation, Tambov, 2020;
• Uskov A. S., «Sovremennyye tendentsii sokhraneniya i razvitiya ispolnitel’stva na liven-skoy garmoni», in Narodnyye instrumenty v russkoy i mirovoy muzykal’noy kulture, 5th All‑Russian Conference with international participation, Tambov, 2021.