Igor Matvienko, music producer and composer. Biography

Igor Matvienko was born on February 6, 1960 in Moscow into the family of a serviceman. His father, Igor Matvienko, was a cadre military officer; his mother, Roza Matvienko, worked as an economist in the USSR State Planning Committee.

The future composer grew up as an ordinary child, differing little from his peers. It was his mother who recognized his creative abilities. It was she who took her 10-year-old son to music school. However, at the entrance auditions they said that the child had no hearing, and could only recommend a good teacher.

Alexander Kapulsky helped Igor to learn musical literacy. According to the composer, he was an elderly man who passed on to him all his love for music. The teacher successfully prepared the young man to enter the Ippolitov-Ivanov Music College (now the Ippolitov-Ivanov State Music and Pedagogical Institute, GMPI), from which he graduated in 1980, having received a specialization as a choral conductor.

Soon after graduation Matvienko began to work closely with various musical ensembles. Among them are vocal and instrumental ensembles (VIA) "First Step", "Hello, Song", "Class" and others. And in 1987, together with vocalist Nikolai Rastorguev and songwriter Alexander Shaganov, he founded the group "Lyube".

At that time Matvienko worked as a music editor at the "Record" popular music studio. It was during this period that he had the idea to create a fundamentally new group that would be different from the usual Soviet pop music. As a result, a musical group was created, whose creativity was based on military themes close to him with elements of author's songs, folklore and lyrics. Later, the recognizable stage image of the band's lead singer Nikolai Rastorguev appeared - military uniform and galifeh.

Recording of the first songs began in January 1989 at the "Zvuk" studio. The lyrics for Lube's debut compositions were written by Shaganov, who had previously collaborated with Dmitry Malikov (the song "Until Tomorrow") and the rock band Black Coffee (the song "Vladimirskaya Rus"). Matvienko acted as artistic director and composer-arranger, creating most of the songs for this group. Among the most famous are "There, Beyond the Mists", "Horse", "Call Me Softly by Name", "You Carry Me, River", "Atas", and "Kombat".

"Lyube" became Matvienko's first and incredibly successful project. Later on, the composer decided to get down to promoting Russian performers and in the early 1990s created the Igor Matvienko Production Center.

In an interview Matvienko admitted that he had long nurtured the idea of becoming a producer. He was prompted to do so by the fact that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, royalties were no longer paid in the same amounts and it became impossible to earn a living only by writing songs.

Also, according to the producer, he wanted to move away from military-patriotic themes and pay more attention to youth music. In 1991 he started to cooperate with Zhenya Belousov, which lasted for several years. Together with the artist, he created such hits as "Girl-Girl-Girl" and "Vecherok-Vecherochek". Then Matvienko produced the group Ivanushki International, writing for them the songs "Clouds", "Poplar Puff", "Golden Clouds" and "Snegiri", which were played at all Russian discos.

In the 2000s, Matvienko was the producer and manager of the first and fifth seasons of Star Factory, after which he produced the finalists. Among his mentees were Mikhail Grebenshchikov, Victoria Daineko, as well as the groups Korni and Fabrika.

In 2014, Igor Matvienko became the music producer of the opening and closing ceremonies of the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, and two years later he wrote the music for the composition "Forward, Infantry!", which became the anthem of the Ground Forces of the Russian Armed Forces. In addition, the composer wrote music for the movies and TV series "Border. Taiga Romance", "Homicidal Force", "Spetsnaz".

For many years of fruitful activity and great contribution to culture, the musician was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia. He was also awarded the Order of Friendship for his participation in preparations for the Sochi Olympics. In addition to music, the composer is engaged in public activities. In particular, he is a member of the Council on Culture and Art under the President of the Russian Federation and the Public Council under the State Duma Committee on Culture.

In 2025, the producer and composer turns 65 years old. On the anniversary, February 5 and 6, the premiere of Igor Matvienko's ethno-opera "Prince Vladimir" will take place on the stage of the State Kremlin Palace. The performance, which tells about the life of Prince Vladimir, his role in the baptism of Russia and the unification of Russian lands, will be attended by Nikolai Rastorguev, SHAMAN, the young singer Soya and other popular artists. Matvienko himself will perform the role of the Scandinavian god Odin.

On the eve of the anniversary Matvienko told journalists that this year he decided to refuse traditional gifts. He intends to use all the funds raised to restore cultural and historical monuments in the Kursk region.

On February 5, the Kremlin Palace will show the premiere of the ethno-opera "Prince Vladimir"

Igor Matvienko - private life

Igor Matvienko was officially married three times and has five children. His first wife was the famous healer Djuna, older than him by 11 years. However, the marriage lasted exactly 24 hours, becoming the shortest in the history of Russian bohemia.

For the second time, the composer married a fashion designer named Larisa. In 1988, the couple had a daughter Anastasia Matvienko. But the family also disintegrated quite quickly. After the divorce, Larissa, together with her daughter, went to the UK, where Anastasia studied to be a fashion designer.

With his third wife, model Anastasia Alexeeva, the musician met in 1991 on the set of a music video by Zhenya Belousov. In 1997, Igor and Anastasia had an older daughter Taisia, and a few years later a younger daughter Polina and son Denis were born. In 2015, the spouses announced their divorce.

Also the producer has an illegitimate son Stanislav, who was born in 1985, when the composer was just beginning to build his musical career.