An outstanding Russian composer, pianist and pedagogue, Sergey Taneev was a student of Tchaikovsky and Nikolay Rubinstein at the Moscow Conservatory. Taneev was the piano soloist at the premiere of the Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto in Moscow. In 1885, Taneev assumed the position of director of the Moscow Conservatory. Taneev's students were Scriabin and Rachmaninov.