Projects

Film Composition

As a film composer, Ljova has composed, produced, and recorded scores to three feature and over a dozen short films. Among his recent credits are a documentary for BBC and NHK. Recently, Ljova served as the assistant composer on Francis Ford Coppola's upcoming release "Youth Without Youth," and assisted Clint Mansell and the Kronos Quartet for Aronofsky's "The Fountain." Ljova was one of six composers invited to participate in the Sundance Institute's Film Composers Lab.

• [ Filmography ]

• [ Film Demos ]

Ljova and the Kontraband

Ljova and the Kontraband is the chamber-jam ensemble playing semi-improvized compositions by Ljova. Infusing Classical forms with new meanings, the ensemble plays a seductive brew of Ljova's Eastern-European and Gypsy-inspired melodies, Latin rhythms, and Jazzy improvisations. The ensemble features Ljova on the viola, as well as accordion, bass, and percussion. After several shows at Joe's Pub and other New York venues, the Contraband is preparing for tours in Europe and the US. [More Info, Videos, Clips]

• "Brahmsian tone, Bartók lines, hiccupping Hungarian rhythms, Klezmer soul and the sexy plaintiveness of tango and the blues." --- Justin Davidson, NEWSDAY (reviewing Kontraband's show at Joe's Pub)

Vjola: World on Four Strings

"Vjola: World on Four Strings" is Ljova's debut solo recording of his compositions, performed almost exclusively on multi-tracked viola. "Vjola" has won high critical acclaim in the New York Times, Billboard Magazine, TimeOut NY, Newsday, AllAboutJazz, Jazziz. It was featured as the "World Music Pick" on NPR's "Weekend America" and as one of the best recordings of June 2006 on NPR/WNYC "New Sounds."

• [Ljova] is an eclectic with an ear for texture...Throaty melodies supported by pizzicato rhythms, lush choral figures and counterpoint.
  ---Allan Kozinn, NEW YORK TIMES

• Rustic dances and evocative soundscapes, all crafted from ... the gorgeously grainy purr of his fiddle.
  ---Steve Smith, TIME OUT NY

[Listen, Buy, More info]

Arrangements

As an arranger, Ljova has completed dozens of musical arrangements for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, the Kronos Quartet, the rapper Jay-Z, Bond, Matmos, Ryan Star, and others. Resulting from these collaborations are arrangements of musics from Azerbaijian, China, India, Iran, Japan, Russia, Tanzania, as well as gypsy music from Romania and France.

• Arrangements Catalog

Remix/Mashup/Online Collaboration

Ljova has long been intrigued by the idea of collaborating online through sites like ccMixter and SpliceMusic - ccMixter (via Creative Commons) provides the legal and technological framework for easy collaboration through Samples Licenses; SpliceMusic also offers a very impressive online sequencer and community tools for music collaboration with very little know-how and no upstart costs. Ljova has uploaded some very specific viola gestures and textures -- odd sounding notes, whacks, crashes -- sounds which can't at all be found in ordinary sample libraries. He also uploaded one of his newest tracks, an Indian-inspired "Heat Me Up", posting all the parts of the tracks (melody, bass, plucks, etc) and inviting a remix.

• Ljova's CCMixter page

• Justin Davidson guest-blogs on Mashup Culture on Alex Ross' "The Rest is Noise" : "The virtuoso violist ... Ljova, whom I heard do an impressive set with his improvisational Eastern European sort-of-folk ensemble at Joe's Pub, posts a set of separate tracks, and someone who goes by the handle Hepepe mixes the melody line with an Ethiopian chant and a few other samples into a piece called "Self Portrait of Silence." Which of course someone else could recycle all over again...."

Skip Hop Lounge

The Skip Hop Lounge is Ljova's project that aims to explore lounge, chill-out and trip-hop inspired soundscapes based on odd-metered loops and cross-cultural melodic gestures. The project features Ljova and the pianist/producer/synthesist Uli Geissendoerfer.