Lydia Kavina (born September 8th, 1967 in Moscow) is the leading thereminist active in the world today. The granddaughter of Leon Theremin's first cousin, she was the inventor's last protégé. She began studying the instrument with him at the age of nine, and was concertizing by age fourteen. Since then, Kavina has given over 500 performances on the instrument. She has served as Master Teacher in Russia, Germany, England and the U.S., including the Theremin Summer Institute in Portland, Maine. Her own works have significantly extended the repertory for the instrument. Her theremin concerto, The Seasons of the Year (1997), was premiered by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project conducted by Gil Rose. With Robert Moog she has produced a video entitled Mastering the Theremin.
Ms. Kavina was the featured theremin soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the soundtrack score by Howard Shore to the Oscar winning movie Ed Wood. Shore later composed theremin parts for her in the soundtrack to David Cronenberg's Existenz, as well as creating a special "Suite" with chamber orchestra from the Ed Wood score for Kavina's debut recital at The Lincoln Center Summer Festival (2000), New York City. The Lincoln Center debut also featured premiere works written for Ms. Kavina by Christian Wolff and Olga Neuwirth, as well as Miklos Rosza's Spellbound Concerto, all of which have been recorded for Mode.
