The only avant-garde composer in a department still notorious for its conservatism (the famous troika of Denisov, Schnittke and Gubaidulina were personae non gratae during the Soviet period), Mr Tarnopolsky has been professor of composition since 1992.
James Sullivan, a graduate student who gravitates toward esoteric works by such composers as Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina, said he was struggling with tension in his shoulders and in his bow arm before he discovered the unique thrill of throwing a hard right hook.