Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Ivan Barbotin began playing guitar at 10. Within a couple of years, he formed the rock band Sphinx which soon won the “Soviet Union’s Best Youth Band” competition. At 16, he joined Russia’s celebrated rock band Forum as lead guitarist, where he was half the age of the other musicians. With Forum he toured the country to sold-out audiences and became Laureate of the Song of the Year Festival in 1989, a career-launching annual TV event. After moving to Canada in 1990, Ivan turned his attention away from music for a decade, during which time he studied languages and linguistics. He also worked as a video editor at Leafs TV and NBA TV Canada. Ivan eventually returned to music and began working as a full time film and television composer. In 2000, Ivan wrote his first ballet score, The Velveteen Rabbit. Two more ballet commissions followed: The Emperor’s New Clothes and Anastasia. He has since written numerous compositions for film and television series appearing on Discovery and BBC, among many other networks throughout the world. Ivan’s music has been performed and recorded by various orchestras including The Russian Philharmonic, The Kitchener Waterloo Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia. Ivan has a doctorate in composition from the University of Toronto.