Sergei Prokofiev (Russian: Сергей Сергеевич Прокофьев, 1891 -1953) was a major russian/ soviet composer of the 20th century. Prokofiev was born in Sontsovka (now Krasne in Donetsk oblast, Ukraine). Prokofiev took piano, theory, and composition lessons from Reinhold Glière, then enrolled at the St. Petersburg Conservatory when he was thirteen. ...show more

Sergei Prokofiev (Russian: Сергей Сергеевич Прокофьев, 1891 -1953) was a major russian/ soviet composer of the 20th century. Prokofiev was born in Sontsovka (now Krasne in Donetsk oblast, Ukraine). Prokofiev took piano, theory, and composition lessons from Reinhold Glière, then enrolled at the St. Petersburg Conservatory when he was thirteen.

He took theory with Anatoly Lyadov, orchestration with Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and became lifelong friends with Nicolai Myaskovsky. After graduating, he began performing in St. Petersburg and in Moscow, then in Western Europe, all the while writing more music. Prokofiev's earliest fame was as a pianist and composer for the piano, with works like the Sarcasms, op.

17 (1912-1914), and Visions fugitives, op. 22 (1915-1917), and his first few piano sonatas. He also wrote orchestral works, concertos, and operas, and talked to Sergei Diaghilev about producing ballets. The years immediately after the Revolution were spent in the U.S., where Prokofiev tried to follow Sergei Rachmaninov's lead and make his way as a pianist/composer. ...show less