Born in Moscow (Russia), Yan Mikirtumov began his musical education at the age of five at the State Choir College A. Sveshnikov, in Moscow, where he studied for eleven years and obtained a diploma in the specialty of Choir Conducting with distinction. In 1997, he finished, also with distinction, the course in Choral Conducting at the Higher Academy of Choral Art in Moscow with the thesis “Gender of Passions in the work of H. Schütz”. Between 1997 and 1998, he specialized in Composition at the Superior Conservatory of P. I. Tchaikovsky, in Moscow. He holds a PhD in Music and Musicology from the University of Évora (2013), having defended the thesis «Reduction for Piano: Three specificities» with distinction and praise.
Between 1991 and 1999 he participated in numerous concerts, festivals and recordings with various choirs, Early Music ensembles and orchestras in Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Poland, Finland, Ukraine, Norway, Japan, USA and Russia, as a singer, pianist and choir conductor. He wrote music for several theatrical, cinematographic and advertising projects.
He has lived in Portugal since 1999, where he began his career as a teacher. He frequently conducts courses, masterclasses and workshops on Reading at First Sight and Direction. Between 2001 and 2003 he held the position of Conductor of the Choir of the Small Singers of the Academia de Amadores de Música, with which he participated in the presentation of the opera Boris Godunov by M. Mussorgsky at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon. He was founder of the Youth Choir and the Women’s Choir of the Albufeira Music Conservatory, with which he toured in France, Germany, Greece, Austria and Spain. Between 2005 and 2011 he held the position of conductor of the Coro Brisa, with which he won 3rd Prize at the International Choir Competition in Bratislava (Slovakia). He was president (2012) and member of the jury (2010 and 2014) of the Freamunde International Choir Competition (FICC).
He recorded, edited and participated in more than 50 CDs for labels such as Melodia, Dargil, Universal, Russian State Radio and Television, NDR (Germany) and Antena 2. He regularly collaborates with various entities in the Portuguese music scene, such as the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa , the Orquestra do Algarve, Eborae Música, the Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Casa da Música Orchestra, the Estoril Interpretation Competition and Antena 2, among others.
He performed several arrangements and compositions for orchestras, chamber music groups and soloists in Portugal, Spain and Russia. He participated in several projects in Cape Verde and Angola, including a concert by Tito Paris with the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra held in Salinas de Pedra de Lume (2009) and the Sons de Setembro project, with a live classical orchestra for the first time in Luanda (2011). Some of his works were edited by Copy-us, Ricordi (Germany) and AvA Edition (Portugal).
He is currently a professor at the Superior National Academy of Orchestra.