The Georgian composer and conductor Aleksi Machavariani was born in Gori. He graduated from the Tbilisi Conservatory in 1936 and remained there for a postgraduate study. Later he joined the faculty, becoming a professor in 1963. He began his artistic career in 1935.

Machavariani produced a number of critically acclaimed plays and ballets, including the ballet “Othello” (1957), the operas “Mat i Sin” (1945), “Den moei Rodini” (1954), the symphony “Piat monologov” (1971; it earned the Shota Rustaveli Prize). He also wrote the music to many theatrical productions, including “Baratashvili” and “Legenda o liubvi”.

He was the artistic director of the Georgian State Symphony Orchestra from 1956 till 1958 and directed the Composers’ Union of Georgia from 1962 till 1968.