Anton Batagov, the well-known composer and pianist and laureate of international competitions, was born on 10 October 1965 in Moscow. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory.
The musician's discography, which currently numbers around 30 CDs, includes works of various genres as well as recordings of classical and contemporary music, from Bach to Morton Feldman. Batagov's work consistently receives high praise from Russian and foreign critics. In 1997 the magazine Itogi called him "one of the most significant and unusual figures in contemporary Russian music".
Batagov has written the music for a number of films, including "A Female Role" (directed by Ivan Dykhovichny, 1994), "Music for December" (Ivan Dykhovichny, 1994), "Unknown Weapon, or Crusader 2" (Ivan Dykhovichny, 1998), "U" (Tatiana Danilyants, 2000), "Kopeika" (Ivan Dykhovichny, 2002), "Time of Change" (Oleg Khaibullin, 2003), "Frescoes of a Dream" (Tatiana Danilyants, 2005), "Prisoners of Terpsichore 2" (Efim Reznikov, 2006) and "Inhale / Exhale" (Ivan Dykhovichny, 2006).
In 2005 the respected American musicologist John Schaefer said on his daily radio programme "New Sounds": "Listening to the two-plus hours of Anton Batagov's film music collected on the album 'Music for Films' is an experience that can change your life."
Batagov also created the musical identities of the television channels NTV and NTV+ (five channels), TNT (1997-98), RTR (1998-2000), Kultura (2002-06), Domashny (2005-06) and STS (2005-06), more than 1,500 compositions in all. His television work has received Russian and international awards.
From 1989 to 1996 Batagov was the artistic director of the annual international festival of contemporary music "Alternativa".
Since 1997 he has, as a matter of principle, declined to give concerts and works in the studio.