About Me
I was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia on June 5, 1966. My mother was an operatic singer and she sang in many Russian theaters. My father was a classical pianist who graduated from Leningrad conservatory with a Golden Medal. Being raised mainly on Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, I became influenced by Bach when I was 11, then by modern jazz, including Miles Davis, Art Ensemble of Chicago, all sorts of free jazz and fusion. By the time I was 16, I was already a jazz singer/guitarist, and that is when I met my current producer Val Belin (King B.) - a legenadary Russian musician. Besides being a modern composer, arranger and BSN producer , Mr. Belin greatly contributed to the direction of my creativity took since that time. I studied at Musorgsky College of music in Leningrad in the 1980s, and parallel to that I was studying Eastern Philosophy and esoterism along with all kinds of world music, including Indian, Chinese, Hebrew, Arabic, African and so on. My path finally brought me to minimalism. I was greatly inspired by the works of John Adams, Steve Reich and Philip Glass, and also the recordings of Kronos Quartet. I wrote my first large classical work titled AGN in 1992, one year before I came to New York. It was a tonal composition in the style of minimalism, influenced by Brazilian and Eastern music.
After my arrival to America, I lived in Boston for over 4 years where I studied Native American spirituality and art from the real sources. After a long creative break,
I resumed my work as a composer, and after completing my First Punk Symphony,
I am working on my new string quartet along with some other compositions at this time. I am very thankful to my producer Mr. Val Belin and Mrs. Queen B. for helping me to create this page.
Bret Diamond
