ABSTRACT
Alexander Aronovich Knaifel was born on November 28,1943 in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) where his parents, then students of the Leningrad Conservatoire, had been evacuated during the war. In September 1944 the family moved back to Leningrad. In 1950 Alexander Knaifel was admitted to the Central Music School at the Leningrad Conservatoire, finishing it in cello playing in 1961. During the period from 1961 to 1963 he studied cello with Mstislav Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatoire, but had to give up playing because of a hand injury. In 1963 he entered the Leningrad Conservatoire where he studied composition with Boris Arapov, graduating in 1967. Worked as a teacher and music editor. He is married to the singer Tatiana Melentyeva, and they have a daughter and a grandson.
