Ilya Demutsky is one of the most distinctive contemporary composers writing for the stage today. His music is performed by leading ballet companies, orchestras and theatres across Europe and the United States, encompassing opera, ballet, symphonic and dramatic forms. His work is characterised by a strong theatrical sensibility, stylistic openness and a deep engagement with the artistic process of production.

A central place in Demutskiy’s output is occupied by ballet. Among the major scores are The Hero of Our Time, Nureyev, and The Seagull, all created for the Bolshoi Theatre, as well as Anna Pavlova in Saint Petersburg. International projects include An Optimistic Tragedy (San Francisco Ballet) and Anna Karenina (Joffrey Ballet, Chicago) in co-production with The Australian Ballet. He also worked on Gabrielle Chanel, created in collaboration with the House of Chanel – the first and only stage work devoted to Coco Chanel – and San Francisco Ballet's Eugene Onegin, which offers an original musical interpretation of Pushkin’s novel and marks the first time in more than two centuries that a ballet based on Eugene Onegin has been created with an entirely new score.

Demutsky studied at the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as a Fulbright Scholar, where he worked with David Conte.

Other work include the opera The Black Square, the orchestral work The Nicole Symphony and a violin concerto commissioned for Vadim Repin. He scored Anna Melikyan's film The Diva, and regularly collaborates with Kirill Serebrennikov, including on the stage productions Martyrer, Who Is Happy in Russia? and Outside, as well as the film The Student, for which he received the European Film Award for Best Composer. He composed music for Gesher Theater's The Patriarchs and the Matriarchs.

His work has been recognised with major international distinctions, including the Benois de la Danse Prize (2019), First Prize at the International Composition Contest “2 Agosto” (Bologna, 2013), and the Medal of the President of the Italian Republic.