German Okunev

German Grigoryevich Okunev (; 12 June 1931, in Leningrad – 12 June 1973, in Leningrad) was a Soviet Russian composer, pianist and teacher. Life Okunev’s father was an engineer; his mother was a dressmaker. From the age of 8 he attended a musical school in Leningrad. He graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Leningrad, where he studied with O. Yevlakov and Boris Klyuzner, in 1956. From 1957 to 1960 Okunev taught music at Frunze, (now Bishkek), in Kirghiz SSR. In 1964 he returned to the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory to study with Dmitri Shostakovich as a post-graduate pupil. Shostakovich had a high opinion of Okunev and later assisted him in obtaining performances for his works. In 1968 Okunev narrowly escaped from drowning in an accident on Lake Ladoga. On 27 May 1973 Okunev and his wife were involved in a serious traffic accident from which Okunev died 17 days later, on his 42nd birthday. After his death, an asteroid was named for him (‘10990 Okunev’) by its discoverer, N. S. Chernykh. Music Okunev developed an individual style which became strongly, if indirectly, influenced by the music he became acquainted with in Kirghizia. His early three-act ballet ‘Kuiruchuk’ (196