Mikhail Vasilievich Pletnev (Russian: Михаи́л Васи́льевич Плетнёв, Mikhail Vasil'evič Pletnëv; born 14 April 1957) is a Russian concert pianist, conductor, and composer. 　　Pletnev was born into a musical family in Arkhangelsk, then part of the Soviet Union. His father played and taught the bayan, and his mother was a pianist.He entered the Central School of Music at the age of 13, studying under Evgeny Timakin, and, in 1974, entered the Moscow Conservatory, studying under Yakov Flier and Lev Vlassenko. At age 21, he won the Gold Medal at the VI International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1978, which earned him international recognition and drew great attention worldwide. The following year he made his debut in the United States. He also taught at the Moscow Conservatory. Pletnev has acknowledged Sergei Rachmaninoff as a particularly notable influence on him as a musician.