Ilja Bergh

Who is Ilja Bergh?

Ilja Bergh is a Danish pianist and composer.

His father was a singing teacher and his mother, Russian-born, was a painter. His grandfather was the composer Rudolph Sophus Bergh and his great-grandfather physician and zoologist Rudolph Bergh.

Ilja Bergh led a colorful and turbulent life. His childhood took him from Berlin to Riga and Kiev, to Copenhagen. He received his first piano lessons in Kiev 1935-1937. After World War II, he was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Music, but was thrown out. Later he was admitted again and received his diploma in 1957.