Valery Khalilov

Valery M. Khalilov
Native name
Валерий Михайлович Халилов
Birth nameValery Khalilov
Born(1952-01-30)30 January 1952
Died25 December 2016(2016-12-25) (aged 64)
Cause of deathPlane crash
Buried
Allegiance Soviet Union
Russia
Branch Russian Ground Forces
Service years1970-2016
Rank Lieutenant General
CommandsMilitary Band Service of the Armed Forces of Russia
AwardsPeople's Artist of Russia
Alma materMoscow Military Music College
SpouseNatalia Khalilova

Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov (Russian: Валерий Михайлович Халилов; 30 January 1952 – 25 December 2016) was an Uzbek-born Russian military band conductor and composer. A lieutenant general in the Russian military, he was the Senior Director of Music of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Russia and Chief Military Conductor, most famously conducting the massed Russian military bands at the annual "Victory Day" parade held in the Moscow's Red Square a record 14 times. He died when the plane he was on, en route to Syria, crashed into the Black Sea off Sochi, Russia.