Ilia Rayskin

Ilia was exposed to music from an early age: whether chamber music rehearsals or LP and CD recordings playing in the living room with repertoire spanning from Bach and Brahms to The Police.

At the age of six he started taking violin lessons. After moving to Germany with his family, he switched to drums, studying with Dominik Wimmer and started performing with local bands and theatre productions at the age of fifteen.

Back in Amsterdam at the age of eighteen, he started studying at the Amsterdam Conservatory, where he recently finished his Bachelor’s degree in jazz drums. Currently he is pursuing his Master’s degree at The New School in New York, New York. He has studied with a plethora of influential musicians such as Matt Mitchell, Peter Evans, Kim Cass and Ben Monder.

As a musician and person Ilia continuously strives to develop and learn. He takes influence from a very broad scope of musical styles including contemporary classical music, jazz, avant-garde and electronic music. His versatility across genres is a core characteristic of his unique voice. Ilia is eager to explore things out of his comfort zone and is always looking for new sources of inspiration. Both as composer and performer he strives to think outside the box and to generate unique and deeply personal artistic output. Currently is performing with his own projects, composing works for various instrumentalists as well as performing as a sideman with countless groups across the globe.