Hailed by Billboard Magazine as "one of New York's fastest-rising composers and instrumentalists", LJOVA (Lev Zhurbin) stands at the forefront of his generation as the premiere bridge between the world's musical cultures. Ljova was born in 1978 in Moscow, Russia, and moved to New York with his parents, composer Alexander Zhurbin and writer Irena Ginzburg, in 1990. He divides his time between performing as a violist in diverse groups ranging from his own LJOVA AND THE VJOLA CONTRABAND, to string quartets, jazz combos and gypsy bands; studying and arranging music for the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, the Kronos Quartet, Matmos and Jay-Z; and composing original music for film, TV, theatre and the concert stage.