Nikolai Girshevich Kapustin 22 November 1937 – 2 July 2020) was a Soviet composer and pianist of Ukrainian-Jewish descent. He played with early Soviet jazz bands such as the Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra. In his compositions, mostly for piano, he used a fusion of jazz and classical forms. He and other pianists recorded his works.
Kapustin was born in Horlivka, Ukraine. When he was age four, with his father fighting in World War II, his mother and grandmother moved with him and his sister to the Kyrgyz city of Tokmak. He composed his first piano sonata at age 13. From age 14, Kapustin studied piano with Avrelian Rubakh (a pupil of Felix Blumenfeld, who also taught Simon Barere and Vladimir Horowitz). Beginning in 1954, he discovered jazz. His teacher supported his interest. Kapustin studied from 1956 with Alexander Goldenweiser at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating in 1961. He included Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2 in his graduation recital.
