Valery Khalilov

Valery Khalilov
Khalilov conducting "Kant March"
Native name	Валерий Михайлович Халилов
Born	Valeriy Mikhaylovich Khalilov (1952-01-30)30 January 1952 Termiz, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union (now Termez, Uzbekistan)
Died	25 December 2016(2016-12-25) (aged 64) Black Sea near Sochi, Russia
Nationality	Russian
Occupation	Military conductor, composer
Military career
Rank	Lieutenant general

Valery Mikhaylovich Khalilov (Russian: Валерий Михайлович Халилов; 30 January 1952 – 25 December 2016) was an Uzbek-born Russian military band conductor and composer. A lieutenant general in the Russian military, he conducted the massed Russian military bands at the annual "Victory Day" parade held in the Moscow's Red Square a record 14 times. He died when the plane he was on, en route to Syria, crashed into the Black Sea off Sochi, Russia.

Khalilov was born into a family famous for producing military conductors on 30 January 1952 in the city of Termez, Uzbekistan. At the age of 4, he began to compose his own music. A career officer, he graduated from the Moscow Military Musicians School at the age of 11. From 1970 to 1975 he was on the conducting faculty of the Moscow State Conservatory Tchaikovsky (class of Professor GP Alyavdin).

Khalilov's first posting was being a conductor at the Pushkin Higher School of Radioelectronics of Air Defense under the Soviet Air Defence Forces, before being a teacher at the Moscow military conductor's faculty in 1981. As conductor of the Pushkin Higher School military band he won first place in the competition of military bands of the Leningrad Military District in 1980 and gained the attention of the chief conductor of the Moscow Military District Military Band, Major General Nikolai Mikhailov, who brought him into that band as deputy conductor in 1984. He subsequently transferred to the governing body of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the USSR that same year, marking his first national television appearance at that year's Revolution Day Parade and at the Victory Day Parade the following year as one of the deputy directors leading the orchestra.

Khalilov rose through the ranks and eventually became the chief conductor and Senior Director of Music of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Russia in 2002, with his first national TV appearance as chief conductor of the combined band in the 2003 Victory Day Parade. In May 2015, Khalilov became a member of the Board of Trustees' Academy festive culture. He served as chief conductor of the Moscow area massed military bands and emeritus director of music and conductor for the Central Military Band of the Ministry of Defense for a record 14 years

In that capacity, Khalilov organised many festive theatrical events in Moscow which were attended by Russian military brass bands and groups from many countries. Events included international military music festivals "The Kremlin Zorya", and "Spasskaya Tower". He toured with the leading bands of the Russian Armed Forces in Austria, Sweden, United States, Germany, Hungary, North Korea, Mongolia, Poland, Finland, France, Switzerland, and Belgium.