Vladimir Fere
Vladimir Fere was a Soviet composer, music educator, and music critic. He was born on May 20, 1902, in Kamyshin, Saratov Governorate, Russian Empire, and died on September 2, 1971, in Moscow. He was buried at Vvedenskoye Cemetery in Moscow.
Fere studied at Moscow University and graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1929, having studied composition with Nikolai Myaskovsky. In 1930 he also studied piano with Alexander Goldenweiser. From 1925 to 1928, he belonged to the Production Collective of Student Composers at the Moscow Conservatory.
From 1929 to 1931, he taught at a state music technical school. Between 1930 and 1934, he served as editor and musical director for the All-Union Radio Committee and the State Music Publishing House, and in 1933–1934 he was a consultant at the Moscow Conservatory. He later directed the children’s and collective-farm sections of the Union of Soviet Composers and, until 1944, was artistic director of the Kyrgyz Philharmonic in Frunze.
From 1945 onward, Fere lived in Moscow. After the Second World War he taught at the Moscow Conservatory until 1959, then headed its composition department from 1959 to 1962; he was appointed professor in 1962. His students included Gennady Gladkov, Shamil Chalayev, Khamit Pliev, Abdylas Maldybayev, Mukan Abdraev, Zagir Ismagilov, Shavkat Saifiddinov, Ziyodullo Shahidi, Veli Akhmedov, and Damir Dustmukhamedov. He also appeared as a music critic.
Fere is regarded as one of the founders of Kyrgyz professional music. Together with Vladimir Vlasov and Abdylas Maldybayev, he created the first Kyrgyz musical dramas, operas, and ballets, and was a co-author of the music for the State Anthem of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic. His selected works include Golden Girl, Death Instead, Moon Maiden, For the Happiness of the People, later revised as Son of the People, Manas, On the Shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, Toktogul, The Witch, An Hour Before Dawn, the ballet Spring in Ala-Too, and the symphony Kyrgyzstan. He also wrote choral works, romances, songs, and music for dramatic-theater productions.
Among his honors were the title People’s Artist of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic in 1944, the title Honored Art Worker of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic in 1957, and Honored Art Worker of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1963. He also received the Toktogul Satylganov State Prize of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic in 1970. A street in Bishkek was named after him.