Igor Markevitch was a Ukrainian-born composer and conductor who studied and worked in Paris, becoming a French citizen. He was commissioned in 1929 for a piano concerto by impresario Serge Diaghilev of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
Markevitch settled in Italy during World War II, becoming a citizen. After the war, he moved to Switzerland. He had an international conducting career from there. He was married twice and had a total of three sons and two daughters.