The Bottlephonist

St. Petersburg musician Fyodor Grigoryev began his studies at 13, specializing in percussion instruments at a music academy. There, in addition to the piano, he learned to play the xylophone, vibraphone, and drums.
He later graduated from the city’s Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music.

In 1989, Grigoryev got his first taste of street performance when the famous Russian clown Vyacheslav “Slava” Polunin organized the MIR Caravan or Caravan of Peace – an international clown, circus, and theater festival that launched in Moscow. More than 200 performers and support personnel took to the capital’s streets and squares in hopes of reviving street art. From Moscow, they took the show to St. Petersburg before touring other countries.

Circus Perillos (Spain), the international Footsbarn Traveling Theater, Shusaku & Dormu Dance Theater (the Netherlands), Teatro Nucleo (Italy), and other foreign ensembles came to Russia at Polunin’s invitation. Grigoryev and his family participated in the festival as an amateur ensemble. He has four brothers and two sisters, but only one brother has continued to perform as a musician.