The Russian pianist Pavel Kushner died today in a Birobidzhan detention center while awaiting trial for allegedly ‘inciting terrorism’.
His offence was to read anti-Putin poems on a Youtube channel with five subscribers.
Kushner went on hunger strike and was left by his jailers to die. He was 39 years old.
Pavel Kushnir graduated from the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory. He spent seven years as a soloist with the Kursk Philharmonic and three with the Kurgan Philharmonic. Colleagues speak of his remarkable talent and persistence. ‘If he played Shostakovich’s preludes and fugues, he played all 24 in one evening. Even great pianists struggle with that. Once, when we were about fifteen, we bet that he wouldn’t bend under the system. And he didn’t. So, he won,’ said pianist Olga Shkrygunova.
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