Yelena Eckemoff

Yelena Eckemoff is a Russian-born pianist, composer, poet, and visual artist. Her compositions blend classical music with jazz, and feature exploration and improvisation. Eckemoff was born in 1962 in Moscow, Russia, in the Soviet Union. Her mother was a professional pianist and teacher. When Eckemoff was four, she started to play piano by ear and took lessons from her mother. At seven, she attended Gnessin State Musical College, a school for gifted children.