Doctor of Fine Arts, Full Professor, Head of the Subdepartment of Foreign Music History, Head of the Research Centre for Methodology of Historical Musicology at Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory
Born in Shchyolkovo (near Moscow), graduated from Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory in 1973 as musicologist (under Full Prof. Yu. N. Kholopov), and in 1976 completed his post-graduate studies at the same institution (under Full Prof. T. E. Tsytovich). In the same year started to work at the Foreign Music History Subdepartment (since 1990 — Head of the Subdepartment, since 1993 — Full Professor). He published several monographs; his doctoral thesis (Habilitation) appeared in three editions (1996, 2004, 2017) under the title Minstrels. A Book on Music in Medieval Europe.