On one of August’s days, staff of the Sound Art and Sound Design Department of the INE School of Design, Peter Skovodnikov, Sergei Zykov and Elysée Dregalin were involved in physical labour, although they were directly related to the specifics of the direction entrusted to them. They were transporting to the campus of the Design School in Ismaylovo a precious gift: the musical archive of the famous musician Mark Ilich Pekarski.
Mark Pekarsky is a figure of music culture in Russia. He graduated from the Gnesin Institute in the class of impact instruments, first playing in the symphony orchestra of radio and television, and then moved to the legendary ensemble of ancient music «Madrigal», created by composer and organist Andrei Volkonski. In 1976, he created a unique, first in our country, and to this day, the only ever concerting impact instrument ensemble. The first European tour toured the public and critics — for example, in the mid-1980s, the German press compared the Ensemble of Pekarsky to the main percussion ensemble of Europe, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, noting the incredible accuracy and playability of the band’s musicians, as well as its ability for stylistic reenactment.
In Ansemble’s repertoire, about 200 essays were written specifically for him by Sofia Gubaydulina and Edison Denisov, Victor Suslin and Alfred Schnitke, Vladimir Martynov and Alexander Knaifel, Alexander Voustin and Alexander Rascatov; in fact, several generations of Russian composers were involved in creating a unique repertoire of Ansemble. In addition to working with him, Pekarsky performed as a soloist — working with Dresden, Helsinki, Turin, St. Petersburg, Minsk, Ural and other symphony orchestras — and participated in the recordings of jazz and academic musicians.
It is worth noting two more of Pekarsky’s. For many years he has taught, initially at the Ippolitov-Ivanov School, then at the Maimonides Academy, and since 1997 he has been a professor of the Department of Strings, Spirits and Shocks of the Department of Historical and Modern Performance, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. He has developed an exclusive curriculum and teaching methodology; among his students are winners of All-Union, Russian and international competitions, and soloists of leading orchestras and ensembles. Last but not least, Mark Ilić has an amazingly light feather, despite the seriousness of what he writes on. He is the author of a number of dozens of articles and books (including «Back to the Volconian Forward», «Life and the Love of the Drum,» «Bight the Drum and Don’t Be Afraid»).
That’s why it’s so important that Mark Ilich Pekar, a well-deserved artist of Russia, hand over to Ansamball School of Design. The Sound Art and Sound Design channel receives a unique collection of 20th-century composers' music: Edison Denisov, Sofia Gubaydulina, Vladimir Martynov, many other domestic classics of the post-war vanguard, and the brightest representatives of American, European, Japanese composers' schools.
Alexander Baru (head of the «Art of Advertisement» at the INE School of Design, a marketer with more than 30 years of practical experience, a publisher of Back Beat magazines and a Russian version of Modern Drummer on impact instruments): — Mark Ilich Pekarsky — a man who has proven that the impacters can sound not just loud but truly beautiful. He created Russia’s first strike band, and it was a real discovery. His courage and creativity inspired many musicians to take the sticks into their hands. For me, Pekarsky is an example of how love for your cause turns music into magic.
Sergey Zykov (pupil of Graphic Party discipline on «Saund Art and Sound Design» at the ICU School of Design. Artist, independent musician, participant and programme curator of the modern music ensemble Kymatic Ensemble, a specialist in the V-A-C Foundation’s school programs department: — Many of the works we have received are devoted to the Pekarsk itself and contain its copyrights and notes. Some are no longer able to acquire, or even find, any information about them on the Internet — the unique artifacts of the era of bold experiments. From the new school season, we will begin to systematize the archives for use by students and teachers for educational purposes. Old copies will be restored, almost all collections will be digitized, and a catalogue will be created.
Peter of the Boatmans (coordinator of sound music of the Design School). Researcher of Net Art, author of the course «Story of Network Art», designer and web developer, musician and producer): — Mark Pekarsky’s archive is an invaluable collection of material reflecting the master’s rich creative heritage. It has now moved to the campus of the Design School on the Izmail Highway, opening up new opportunities for researchers and artists. The neighbourhood of the new location of the archives with the sound art and sound design track of the Design School promises to create a fruitful environment for interaction between music and modern art.