The conductor and composer Ivan Shcherbakov (1926–2000) was, in the words of another conductor Yuri Bogdanov, “a natural genius who was talented and unique in everything he did.”

Born in the Rossoshi village of the Altai Krai, Ivan Shcherbakov lost his parents early on and found himself in a Barnaul orphanage. At the age of 13, while continuing his studies at a seven-year school, he started working at a brickworks and a railway car repair works. He also found time for art. Yelena Popova, an employee of the orphanage, brought the promising student to Glazunov Music School No. 1.

Ivan Shcherbakov began his career as a musician in the orchestra of the Barnaul Infantry School where he played the tuba. He served in the orchestra throughout the Great Patriotic War and in 1945 participated in the opening ceremony of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater.

After the war, Shcherbakov continued his studies at the Leningrad State Conservatory. He was the only student at the Naval Department who had not completed secondary education, still, he never failed to amaze others with his thirst for knowledge and, in the words of Yuri Bogdanov, with “his efforts in overcoming difficulties… beyond human capabilities.”

Having graduated with honors in 1952, Ivan Shcherbakov worked as a conductor and artistic director at the Pacific Fleet Orchestra in Komsomolsk-on-Amur for the next decade. He is also credited with establishing the first Amateur Symphonic Orchestra in Siberia and the Far East.

Having returned from Komsomolsk to Leningrad, Ivan Shcherbakov studied the art of opera and symphony conducting under the guidance of Ilya Musin. In 1967, he left for Kabardino-Balkaria where he worked as chief conductor for over a decade, conducting the symphony orchestra in the local musical theater and philharmonic.

The maestro was then invited to Barnaul. It was Shcherbakov whose orchestras introduced Barnaul citizens to many works by Arthur Honegger, Franz Liszt, Samuel Barber, George Enescu, Camille Saint-Saëns, Joseph Haydn, Nikolai Myaskovsky, and Sergei Prokofiev.

He also collaborated with the Moscow and Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestras and the Cinema Orchestra.

Ivan Shcherbakov was a talented teacher and author of textbooks. In his last book, “Fundamentals of Conducting”, he summarized the results of his 20-year teaching career.

As a composer, he created works in various genres, from miniatures to symphonies, both solo pieces and compositions for wind bands and symphony orchestras.