Russian pianist Anton Batagov has established a unique identity as an energetic performer and as an original composer of post-minimalist music. A graduate of the Gnessin School of Music and the Moscow Conservatory, Batagov participated in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1986, and went on to perform the standard repertoire and avant-garde music with equal vigor. Batagov was the artistic director of the Alternativa Festival from 1989 to 1996, and led many programs of contemporary music. He stopped performing live in 1997, and for 12 years, devoted himself to composition and recording in the studio. He began composing soundtracks for film and television. He received the Steppenwolf Award in 2009, and returned to live performance with a series of piano recitals. He has recorded works by Bach for Melodiya and the piano music of Philip Glass for Orange Mountain Music.