Alexey Shor (born Alexey Kononenko) is a New York-based composer of Ukrainian origin. Known for a tonal, neo-romantic style rooted in melodic directness, Shor spent over 20 years in academia and finance before he turned to music. He has composed solo, chamber, and orchestral works.
Early Life
Alexey Shor was born on 20 May 1970 in Bila Tserkva. His parents worked in programming and physics.
Alexey Shor attended regular schools in Kyiv through lower secondary level, before enrolling in a school with an advanced curriculum in the exact sciences in Kyiv. In 1986, he became the winner of the national maths olympiad in Ukraine and took top honours at a national-level mathematical conference for high schoolers. That same year, the nuclear accident at Chernobyl forced his relocation, so Shor completed his schooling at a Moscow boarding school, which also specialised in maths and physics.
In 1987, Alexey Shor enrolled in Moscow State University, the Soviet Union's top higher education institution, to study maths. In 1991, shortly before the Soviet Union's collapse, he decided to emigrate. After a brief stay in Israel, he settled in the U.S., where five years later, he completed a PhD at the top-ranked public Pennsylvania State University. His supervisor was Anatole Katok (1944–2018), a leading figure in the theory of dynamical systems. During his doctoral studies, Shor authored papers for several refereed journals.
Violin Sonata No. 1 by Alexey Shor. Performers: Daniel Hope and Behzod Abduraimov
Mathematical Research and Finance
Upon the completion of his PhD, Alexey Shor spent two years in a postdoctoral capacity at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1999, Shor took up a research post at RenTec. He would hold this position for the next seventeen years. The firm, headquartered on Long Island and founded by James Simons, conducts its investment research through the lens of quantitative science and is widely regarded as one of the most scientifically rigorous institutions in the investment industry. Shor's work there was primarily mathematical in nature, drawing on his background in statistical modelling and computation.
Turn to Composition
Alexey Shor's first private attempts at composition date to around 2012. He approached the craft methodically and learned mainly from written sources. The works produced during this period were tonal and lyrical in character, reflecting the Romantic and early twentieth-century repertoire that had shaped his listening from childhood.
The decisive turn came through his friendship with David Aaron Carpenter, who, upon seeing his work, urged Shor to pursue composition as a serious endeavour. Shortly after that, Shor started introducing his work to performers and audiences.
His first works appeared around 2014 and gained an early following online. During these early endeavours, Alexey Shor developed his compositional method. When writing, he imagines himself seated in the concert hall as a listener, asking whether the music holds his attention, and whether it communicates something of genuine emotional weight. This audience-centred orientation governs his decisions about melody, pacing, and form. Within the broader landscape of present-day classical composition, Shor represents a strand of practice that reasserts the central role of melody and tonality.
Verdiana by Alexey Shor. Performers: Marc Bouchkov and Giuliano Mazzoccante
Key Works
The works below represent a cross-section of his output across the principal genres that Alexey Shor has explored.
| Title | Year | Notes |
| Seascapes | 2014 | A violin concerto in 4 movements. Rooted in maritime imagery |
| Verdiana | 2017 | A fantasy on themes by Verdi reimagined in Latin dance idioms |
| Crystal Palace | 2017 | Shor's first ballet |
| Travel Notebook | 2018 | A suite in 7 movements. Draws on the author's travel impressions |
| Musical Pilgrimage | 2018 | The cello concerto takes the listener on a journey across genres and epochs |
| Phantasms | 2018 | A violin concerto in 3 movements exploring a spectrum of moods |
| From My Bookshelf | 2019 | The suite consists of 8 literary portraits. The work was revisited and updated in 2021 jointly with Mikhail Pletnev |
| Blood on the Crown (film score) | 2021 | Winner of the Best Score award at the Malta Film Awards |
| Shor-Pletnev sonata | 2021 | A joint work in 3 movements. Written for the piano |
| Carpe Diem | 2022 | A bandoneon concerto that combines South American dance traditions with jazz elements. There is also a violin version |
| Piano Concerto No. 1 | 2023 | Shor's debut work in the large-scale piano concerto form |
| Piano Sonata No. 2 | 2023 | 3 movements; recorded by Denis Kozhukhin (Pentatone, 2025) |
| Cello Sonata No. 1 | 2025 | Lyrical and dramatic; represents the mature compositional voice of Shor |
| Violin and Viola Concerto | 2025 | Unites classical form and contemporary sensibility in 3 movements |
| Violin Concerto No. 7 | 2025 | Marks Shor's most recent contribution to this genre, and continues his exploration of melody-driven writing |
| Violin and Cello Concerto | 2026 | Combines Shor's trademark lyricism and rhythmic vitality with the expressive possibilities of the violin/cello partnership |
Beginning in 2025 and continuing into 2026, Naxos, a classical music label, is releasing the Composer's Notebook series in seven volumes, performed by the Kyiv Virtuosi with a rotating roster of soloists. The series is dedicated entirely to music by Alexey Shor and constitutes the most comprehensive single-label survey of his work to date.
Performers and Collaborators
Alexey Shor's music has been performed by some of the most sought-after soloists working today. Several of these relationships have extended beyond single performances into sustained artistic partnerships.
Violinist Maxim Vengerov has performed such pieces as Seascapes, Elegy (from Phantasms), St Elmo Barcarolle (from the Images from the Great Siege suite), and the Violin Concerto No 6 ("Carpe Diem"). Vengerov has appreciated "the image and energy transfer" of Shor's melodies. Cellists Gautier Capuçon and Steven Isserlis have played Musical Pilgrimage on several occasions. Virtuoso Roman Kim included one of Seascapes' movements, Lonely Sail, in KIMPOSSIBLE, a recording released in 2018 by Sony Classical.
David Aaron Carpenter, who was the first to discover Alexey Shor's manuscripts, has since performed a number of his pieces and featured a dance cycle by Shor on his album titled Motherland (2018, released by Warner Classics). On this recording, Carpenter is accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under David Parry, Kazushi Ono, and Vladimir Jurowski. Carpenter has also been a consistent public advocate for Shor's approach to melodic writing.
More recent releases have featured some of the most prominent names in contemporary performance: Daniel Lozakovich and Mikhail Pletnev recorded a programme pairing Shor with Grieg, Franck, and Shostakovich for Warner Classics in 2024, while Pletnev's live recital, released on Farao Classics the same year, included Shor alongside Brahms and Chopin. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Vasily Petrenko released a disc pairing Shor with Prokofiev in 2025, featuring Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov.
Other artists who have included music by Shor in their concert programmes are American violinist Gil Shaham, British-Israeli pianist Evgeny Kissin, Taiwanese-Australian violinist Ray Chen, and Italian violinist Salvatore Accardo.
Shor's orchestral footprint spans several countries: Germany (Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Augsburger Philharmoniker, Essener Philharmoniker, and Symphoniker Hamburg), Czechia (Prague Philharmonic Orchestra), Israel (Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra), Japan (Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra), Slovakia (Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra), UK (Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra), Italy (Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia), and many others.
Shor's music has reached audiences in venues across several countries, including:
- Austria: the Musikverein in Vienna
- Germany: the Berlin Philharmonie and the Gasteig cultural centre in Munich
- Netherlands: the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam
- UK: Wigmore Hall, and several other London stages
- Italy: Teatro Argentina, one of Rome's oldest theatres, and the Sala Santa Cecilia
- U.S.: Carnegie Hall in New York and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Formal Artistic Appointments
Alexey Shor has held a succession of formal compositional appointments at orchestras, conservatories, and festivals in Europe.
His residencies include one at the Yerevan-based Armenian State Symphony Orchestra (2017–present) and another at Oxford University's resident philharmonic orchestra (2024–2026).
In 2018, Alexey Shor was named an honorary professor by the Armenian Komitas Conservatory. In 2022–2023, he was an associate composer at the Yehudi Menuhin School, a private musical school founded by the American violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin in Stoke d'Abernon (UK).
Festivals and Competitions
Alongside his formal appointments, Shor has been a recurring figure on the international festival circuit and has helped develop competitive platforms for emerging classical performers.
Works by Shor have featured at the Swiss Verbier summer festival for two consecutive years, with a further programme scheduled for 2026. His music has also been presented at an Italian international festival dedicated to chamber music: Accordi Musicali. His longest-running festival association is as resident composer for InClassica.
Shor has been involved with the Classic Piano and Classic Violin Olympus international competitions, as well as the Classic Cello. The latter event was described by its organisers as the biggest cello-only competition held in the UK.
Media Coverage
Shor has been the subject of two documentary features broadcast on medici.tv, produced in 2018 and 2025, respectively. His music and public profile have received coverage on Mezzo, Euronews, and other European and American television networks. As of 2026, his catalogue attracts approximately 30,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
Personal Life
Shor is not married and has two children. He now mostly lives in New York. He does not maintain a public personal profile beyond his activities as a composer.
FAQ
What is Alexey Shor's real name?
He was born Kononenko and adopted the pen name "Shor" when he began presenting his work publicly.
What style of music does Shor compose?
Shor composes in a tonal, melodically driven idiom. His work prioritises emotional directness and accessible harmonic language over the atonal and serial approaches that dominated much of twentieth-century art music.
What was Alexey Shor's career before composition?
Before turning to music professionally, Shor was a research mathematician and a researcher at a hedge fund.
How did Shor come to composition?
He had always loved music, but began composing when he was in his forties. The decision to pursue it professionally came only after Carpenter discovered his private scores and urged him to take the work public.
Did Shor have any formal musical training?
No. Shor came to composition entirely through self-study, without attending a conservatory or taking formal lessons in orchestration.
Where can Shor's recorded music be found?
His catalogue is available on major streaming platforms and has been released on labels including Warner Classics, Pentatone, Naxos, Berlin Classics, DECCA, DANON, SONY, and Farao Classics. Published scores are available through Breitkopf & Härtel and Universal Edition.
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