Alexey Shor is a Ukrainian-born American composer who creates pieces for solo instruments and orchestra, often described as traditional, straightforward and emotional. He is noted for his adherence to tonality and reviving classical melodic sensibilities.

Having spent his childhood in Kyiv and his late teens in Moscow, he then moved with his family to Israel, before relocating to America. He completed a PhD in mathematics and worked in finance and statistical modelling, before deciding to follow his passion of composition – first for pleasure, then full-time.

Shor was in his forties when he started writing, and his music quickly gained popularity, with ensembles performing it in major venues worldwide.

Among Alexey Shor’s notable works are:

● Violin concertos: No. 4, No. 7, as well as Seascapes, Phantasms, Carpe Diem

● Suites: Childhood Memories and From My Bookshelf

● Verdiana

● 2 Songs for My Kids, containing two parts: Lullaby for Mark and Natalie’s Waltz

Alexey Shor’s ‘Two songs for my kids’ performed by Dmitry Yablonsky

Alexey Shor and his musical style

The musical style of Alexey Shor is characterised by emotional and structural directness. He draws on conventional forms while maintaining a modern voice.

He crafts pieces for solo keyboard, diverse bowed string and wind instruments (viola, cello, clarinet, violin, flute, saxophone and others), as well as for full instrumental ensembles. In interviews, he has explained that his composing method stems from a personal philosophy: he assesses the draft from the perspective of the listener. He asks himself whether he would enjoy listening to it or want to hear it again, prioritising emotionality and accessibility over complexity and innovation for the sake of innovation. He believes people should enjoy music without having to have spent years studying it.

Critics and fellow musicians have described his pieces as being tonal, built around recognisable melodies, and evoking 18th- or 19th-century music. Some characterise them as neo-romantic or neo-classical. Other adjectives used to refer to his music are ‘warm’, ‘consumable’, ‘imaginative’ and ‘honest’. His style, distinct from academic trends, combines tradition and modernity.

Influences and musical journey

Alexey Shor grew up listening to classical composers – Bach, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. He prefers the clear structure and melodic richness of their creations to the experimentation of avant-garde and modernist abstraction.

These tastes informed the development of his personal style. He learned composition and began experimenting with writing around 2012. At first, it was a hobby, but soon he decided to pursue it professionally.

His early creativity was influenced by tonal practices, and the artistic approaches of his favourite composers – for instance, those expressed by Rimsky-Korsakov in Principles of Orchestration. The first pieces Alexey Shor wrote were melodic and structurally straightforward, showing influences from Romantic and early 20th-century composers.

By 2014, he had started to experiment with larger forms. The first violin concerto, titled Seascapes, was performed in venues on different continents. His videos were uploaded online and gained hundreds of thousands of views, helping attract a new audience.

As his popularity grew, he began exploring new instruments and different genres. Soon, this became his full-time career, and in 2016 he quit his job in finance to dedicate his life to composition.

Concertos by Alexey Shor

This genre constitutes a significant portion of Alexey Shor’s catalogue. Below is a chronological overview of key creations:

● Violin Concerto No. 1, Seascapes (2014). This four-movement composition, inspired by its composer’s fascination with the sea, represents his evocative writing. It was among his first large-scale compositions to gain international attention.

● Violin Concerto No. 2, Phantasms (2018), comprising three movements. Noted for its melody and conventional harmonic language, and cited as exemplary of Shor's compositional approach.

● Cello Concerto No. 1, Musical Pilgrimage (2018). Structured as a journey through genres and historical periods, it references different styles without attempting authentic period imitation, but providing a contemporary perspective.

● Bandoneon Concerto, Carpe Diem (2022). It is the first composition Alexey Shor wrote for bandoneon. The work incorporates elements of Argentinian traditions and jazz within a classical orchestral framework.

● Piano Concerto No. 1 (2023). The musician’s first large-scale concerto for keyboard. Draws inspiration from the Romantic era, but maintains modern stylistic features. It is emotionally direct and lyrical.

● Violin and Viola Concerto (2025). Three-movement work composed for two soloists. It blends classical form with contemporary elements, alternating between energetic, rhythmically driven sections and introspective passages.

● Violin Concerto No. 7 (2025). Continues the melodic approach of the author’s earlier creativity while extending the range of the solo part.

Alexey Shor’s Double Concerto (violin and viola) played by Nikita Boriso-Glebsky/David Carpenter

Suites by Alexey Shor

Among Alexey Shor’s orchestral works, Images from the Great Siege stands out as a suite that evokes the resistance of Malta to the Ottoman attack in 1565. In 2020, Naxos released a recording of the London Symphony Orchestra performing the suite.

He has also composed keyboard-and-orchestra suites:

● No. 1, Travel Notebook, released in 2018, was written during his travels. Its segments are inspired by different locations, reflecting personal impressions of those places.

● No. 2, From My Bookshelf. This 2019 work depicts several literary characters – fairy tale Cinderella, Tom Sawyer from the Mark Twain novel, and Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo. In 2021, Shor collaborated with Mikhail Pletnev to revise the composition.

● No. 3, Childhood Memories, inspired by the composer’s own child and adolescent experience. The initial version was intended for piano alone in 2016 and contained fourteen movements. Shor later transformed it into a nine-movement version to be played with a full ensemble.

Alexey Shor’s ‘Travel Notebook’ played by Yekwon Sunwoo

Sonatas and other genres

Alexey Shor has composed sonatas for different instruments, including:

● Piano Sonata No. 1 (2019), characterised by a focus on tonality, expressive poetic imagery, and demanding technical passages.

● Shor–Pletnev Sonata (2021). Inspired by the sonata above, Mikhail Pletnev worked with Shor to create his own arrangement of the piece, which now stands as its own standalone composition.

● Piano Sonata No. 2 (2023) follows an emotional trajectory from inner conflict through reflection to eventual renewal. The narrative is emotional and optimistic.

● Violin Sonata No. 1 (2023). Another emotional piece, combining dramatic tension with lyrical introspection. Centres the solo instrument in an expressive setting.

● Cello Sonata No. 1 (2025) explores the lyrical and dramatic range of the cello, alternating between quiet, introspective passages and more intense sections. It emphasises expressive clarity while maintaining a strong structural framework characteristic of the artist’s mature approach.

In 2017, he composed the Verdiana fantasy, an orchestral piece based on melodies from Verdi operas reimagined in South American dance styles. He has also written for a multi-genre ballet production, Crystal Palace, and later transformed the score into a suite for orchestra. A film for which he wrote the soundtrack together with Laurent Eyquem, Blood on the Crown (2021), directed by Davide Ferrario, won the prize for best score at the inaugural Malta Film Awards in 2022.

Alexey Shor’s ‘Verdiana’ played by Shirley Brill

Collaborations and performances

Orchestras in the UK, Germany, Japan, Israel, Armenia, and Romania, amongst others, have performed Alexey Shor’s music, including such ensembles as the London, Israel and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestras.It has been played worldwide, including countries like the U.S., Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, China, and South Korea, in such major concert halls as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Berlin Philharmonie, Wiener Musikverein, and Carnegie Hall in New York. Items from his catalogue have appeared on Mezzo, Euronews, and other channels in Europe and America; medici.tv has dedicated two documentaries to him.

Among the soloists who have performed pieces by Alexey Shor are Maxim Vengerov, Evgeny Kissin, Daniel Lozakovich, Gil Shaham, Gautier Capuçon, Giuseppe Gibboni, and Ray Chen. His repertoire has been featured at events such as the Verbier Festival. He has collaborated with other festivals and competitions worldwide and taken on residencies at several orchestras.

Where to start listening to Alexey Shor

There are options depending on your preferences:

● If you want to begin with string orchestral projects, Musical Pilgrimage or Phantasms illustrate how the composer approaches large formats.

● If you want a lyrical orchestral piano experience with a personal touch, the Childhood Memoriessuite is a good place to start.

● If you are interested in historical themes, try Images from the Great Siege. It introduces the listener to Maltese history and showcases narrative-driven writing. Film enthusiasts may also wish to watch Blood on the Crown, a historical drama for which Shor composed the score.

● If you are most drawn to literature-inspired sound, From My Bookshelf is a natural starting point.

For a quick dive into music by Alexey Shor, the examples in the table provide a look into his range, from early explorations to large-scale pieces.

Selected recordings

Alexey Shor is featured on over a dozen recordings, including ones from Sony Classics and Alpha Classics. Notable releases include Childhood Memories (2017) from DECCA, also containing creations of classical composers; and Warner Classics’ Motherland played by David Aaron Carpenter, with a dance cycle by Shor.

Other recordings showcasing his music include KIMPOSSIBLE (2018), featuring Roman Kim and compositions by Paganini and Bach. Another one is Carneval (2019), with saxophonist Asya Fateyeva and the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn performing, conducted by Ruben Gazarian.

He also has an ongoing collaboration with Naxos. The label is releasing a seven-volume collection titled Shor: Composer’s Notebook. It is dedicated exclusively to his works, played by the Kyiv Virtuosi Orchestra with various soloists.

Music by Alexey Shor is available on major digital platforms. Readers can explore his audio content on Spotify, visit his official YouTube channel for videos of performances, or go to his website for more information.