Alexey Shor defies simple categorisation, a composer whose relatively recent debut onto the classical music landscape has been marked by enthusiastic audience receptions, endorsements from renowned soloists and an impressive roster of international performances in leading concert halls across the globe. This year marks the tenth edition of the InClassica Malta International Music Festival, a three-week-long celebration of classical music on the picturesque Mediterranean island of Malta for which Shor will serve as Composer-In-Residence, contributing works for many of the concerts held as part of the festival including the premiere of his Violin Concerto No.1. Born in Kiev in 1970, Alexey Shor’s life seemed set to follow a different path to the one he has since found himself on, his early life dominated by a keen interest in, and remarkable ability for science and mathematics. As he explains: “I was a maths prodigy and in fact both of my parents were scientists, so for me the only question was what sort of scientist I was going to be.”