The article is devoted to the study of the history of the Astrakhan regional branch of the Union of Composers of Russia through the prism of their position in relation to the processes that are taking place in the music world today and are reflected in the composer's activity. The use of the interview genre as a special analytical technique allows us to become more familiar with the view of musical creativity "from within", through the composer's vision of the influences that the musical and extra-musical environment has on him. An important role in this context is played by the questions compiled for the conversation, which can be divided into two groups: the situation of modern composers in market conditions, located far from the center (living in the regions) and their reflection on the history of culture, the modern world, which is reflected not only in their views, but also in their work. When working on the material of the article, the author used the following methods: interviewing (free conversation), ideographic - when preparing the material of the conversation with the composer, systematization - when analyzing the works of the composer. A special contribution of the author is the philosophical and musicological analysis of L. Butakov’s work and the arrangement of his philosophical ideas. The analysis of the interviews allows us to draw conclusions about the prospects for the existence of academic musical art in the regions of the country.
