Composer · b. 1961
Roman Turovsky-Savchuk
Biography
Roman Turovsky-Savchuk (born in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1961) is an American painter, photographer and video installation artist, as well as a lutenist and composer based in New York City. He studied art from an early age with his father, the painter Mikhail Turovsky. After emigrating to New York in 1979, he continued his art studies while studying Baroque lute and composition with Patrick O’Brien.
He began composing in the early 1990s alongside his work as a visual artist, and has also worked as a scenic artist on film productions, including Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog. His compositions explore the instrumental idioms of the Baroque lute and torban, as well as viola da gamba and carillon, drawing on his Ukrainian heritage and Renaissance and Baroque musical styles. He has also published under pseudonyms, including Johann Joachim Sautscheck.
His music has been performed and recorded by lutenists including Robert Barto, Rob MacKillop, Luca Pianca, Christopher Wilke and Massimo Marchese. Concertzender devoted two hour-long programmes to him in 2011 and 2013. As a performer, he has appeared as lute soloist, singer and continuo player with the Ukrainian-American singer and composer Julian Kytasty.