Born into a creative family of an actress and pianist, Ivan Farmakovsky attended a musical school under the studio of recreation center "Moskvorechie" since the age of 5. At that time this institution was practically the only school in The Soviet Union where jazz was part of educational program together with classical music. In 1988 he became student of the variety-jazz department of The
Gnessin State Musical College - continuing in
Gnessin Russian Academy of Music. One of Ivan's mentors was Igor Brill, one of Russia's most respected jazz pianists. During his student days, participated in various international competitions and succeeded to be a prize-winner in the Europe Jazz Contest in Belgium, 1997. Ivan's talent was noticed by saxophonist
Igor Butman after him playing as sideman with
Benny Golson and
Valery Ponomarev. Soon after the gig, Ivan Farmakovsky became a member of Igor's quartet and Big Band. Since that time he played with
Curtis Fuller,
Randy Brecker,
Bill Evans,
Wynton Marsalis, Seamus Blake and many others. ==Debut album==