Elena N. Baykova

In 1976 she graduated with honours from the M. M. Ippolitov‑Ivanov Music College (class of Associate Professor Z. I. Bitkova), and in 1983, also with honours, from the Gnesin State Music and Pedagogical Institute (now the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music) in the class of Professor, Honoured Art Worker L. A. Popova, qualifying as «Choir Conductor, Teacher of Choral Disciplines»; in 1985 she completed an assistant‑traineeship there in the class of People’s Artist of the USSR, Professor V. N. Minin.

She is a laureate of the «Festos» competition (multiple awards from 1996 to 2007), the All‑Siberian Choral Assembly (2011), «Zvuchit Moskva» («Moscow Sounds», 2014), and «Muzykalny olimp» («Musical Olympus», 2014).

She has taught at the Gnesin Institute / Gnesin Russian Academy of Music since 1986, from 1986 to 2001 in the Choral Conducting Department and, since 2001, in the Choral and Solo Folk Singing Department, where she teaches practical courses («Choral Class», «Mastering Folk‑Song and Author Scores», «Conducting») and theoretical disciplines («Methodology of Teaching Professional Subjects»).

She was awarded the academic title of Professor in 2016.

Among her graduates are laureates of all‑Russian and international competitions, including:

• N. Gushchina (Second Prize, Austria, 1992);
• A. Kotov (Second Prize, Poland, 1992);
• O. Gorokhova (Second Prize, Hungary, 1995);
• A. Solovyev (Grand Prix, Bashkortostan, 1998);
• M. Gluzberg (Third Prize, Italy, 2003);
• A. Rivo (Second Prize, Belgium, 2009; First Prize, Germany, 2011);
• A. Ryzhinsky (First Prize, Austria, 2012; Grand Prix, Slovenia 2013–2017, and in Germany and Sochi);
• O. Gribkova (Second Prize, Spain, 2014; Grand Prix, Vitebsk, 2016);
• O. Telina (First Prize, Moscow, 2015–2017);
• A. Samylin (Second Prize, Moscow, 2014);
• M. Borodyansky (First Prizes in the Netherlands, 1994; Germany, 1995; France, 1996; Italy, 1998);
• N. Ovchinnikova (First Prize, Bulgaria, 2011; First Prize, Tula, 2012; Second Prize, St Petersburg, 2013; First Prizes, Moscow, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017);
• T. Tomashvili (Third Prize, Ruza, 2013);
• V. Makarov (First Prizes, Izhevsk, Vladimir, Moscow, 2009–2010; Honoured Artist of the Republic of Mordovia);
• M. Gorban (First Prize, Sochi, 2012; Second Prize, Krasnodar, 2015);
• I. Rusanova (Second Prize, Naberezhnye Chelny, 2017);
• O. Panyushkina (Second Prizes, Moscow, 2015–2016; First Prize, Odesa, 2016; First Prize, Alushta, 2016);
• S. Shestopalova (First Prizes, Moscow, 2012–2015).

Many of her former students hold posts in leading Russian ensembles, including:

• A. Solovyev – conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre;
• S. Tsypenkov – chorus master of the M. Mussorgsky Opera and Ballet Theatre in St Petersburg;
• T. Gromova – chorus master at the Moscow Operetta Theatre;
• A. Kotov – director of the sacred‑music ensemble «Sirin»;
• M. Borodyansky – director of the Moscow ensemble «Zlatoust»;
• D. Kirpanev – conductor of the Orpheus Radio Symphony Orchestra;
• O. Panyushkina – artist of the Krasnogorsk Philharmonic Society;
• A. Ryzhinsky – Rector of the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music;
• O. Gribkova – Professor at Moscow Pedagogical State University;
• O. Gorokhova – Director of the Kolomna Philharmonic.

Abroad, her students have gone on to work in:

• Israel (I. Firsova);
• Germany (A. Rivo, M. Gluzberg);
• Bolivia (M. Gusman);
• USA (L. Guseva);
• Japan (I. Irtuganova);
• the Netherlands (O. Smirnova).

Her former student, Honoured Artist of Russia N. S. Zhila, was named «Person of the Year» in Culture in 2011; among graduates of her class are four Honoured Artists of Russia (T. Gromova, T. Revzina, N. Zhila, D. Kirpanev), Honoured Artist of the Republic of Mordovia A. Bardin, musicologists and teachers such as Candidate of Art History Yu. Lavrikova (First Moscow Regional Music College), Candidates of Art History M. Gluzberg and O. Gribkova (Doctor of Pedagogy), Honoured Worker of Culture of Mongolia O. Panyushkina, and O. Dmitriyeva, Head of Department and lecturer at the First Moscow Regional Music College.

Over her career with various choirs she has held positions including:

• 1983–1988 – chorus master of the Moscow Chamber Choir under People’s Artist of the USSR, Professor V. N. Minin;
• 1988–2011 – director of the Gnesin Academy’s mixed choir;
• 2004–2010 – director of the choir of the Regent School at the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary;
• since 2002 – chorus master of the Gnesin Academy folk choir.

She has prepared more than two hundred and fifty concert programmes, forming a virtual anthology of choral art.

Her choirs have appeared in major venues such as:

• the State Kremlin Palace Great Hall;
• the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall;
• the House of Composers;
• the Great Hall and Rachmaninov Hall of the Moscow Conservatory;
• the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

Their touring geography spans the Moscow region, many Russian cities, neighbouring countries (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Armenia), and more distant countries (Finland, France, Italy, Bulgaria, the former Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Japan).

She has served on juries of all‑Russian and international festivals and competitions such as «Rozhdestvenskaya pesnya» («Christmas Song») and «Volshebnaya sila iskusstva» («The Magic Power of Art»), and has given numerous masterclasses.

She has received diplomas, certificates of honour, and letters of thanks from Russian Ministers of Culture M. Ye. Shvydkoy and V. R. Medinsky, from the Minister of Culture and National Policy of the Republic of Bashkortostan Kh. Kh. Ishmuratov, from the Ministry of Culture of Krasnoyarsk Krai (A. V. Zinov), and from Chairman of the Union of Composers T. N. Khrennikov.

She has appeared in programmes on Russian and foreign television (Channel One, the «Kultura» and «Stolitsa» channels, Austrian and French TV, and Ukrainian television). E. N. Baikova has published more than sixty articles and regularly takes part in international and national conferences.

She has created and developed curricula for courses including:

• «Choral Class» (Specialist);
• «Conducting» (Specialist);
• «Working with the Choir» (Bachelor’s);
• «Choral Class» (Bachelor’s);
• «Practical Choir Direction and Conducting» (Bachelor’s);
• «Choral Class» (Assistant‑traineeship).

Three LPs have been released on the «Melodiya» label (Sergei Rachmaninov’s «Liturgy of St John Chrysostom», «Russian and Bulgarian Sacred Music», and Valery Gavrilin’s «Perezvony» («Chimes»)), along with five CDs of Orthodox hymns recorded with the Regent School Choir.