She studied at the Grigory and Alexander Pirogov Ryazan Music College and graduated with honours from the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, later completing an assistant‑traineeship there in Folk Choir Conducting.
Svetlana Yuryevna’s teaching experience exceeds twenty‑five years and has been recognised with diplomas from all‑Russian and international competitions and letters of appreciation from Moscow city and regional authorities.
She has taught at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music since 2006 and gives a range of special‑cycle subjects in the Choral and Solo Folk Singing Department.
She directs the solo folk‑singing students’ ensemble, which plays an active role in the Faculty’s concert life, collaborates with contemporary composers V. V. Belyaev, V. V. Pyankov, T. A. Chudova, M. V. Kovalyova, and K. V. Akimov, and performs arrangements of Russian folk songs and the folk music of other peoples of Russia.
Svetlana Yuryevna also leads the course ensemble «Svetoch» of the Choral Folk Singing stream, which regularly appears in educational and concert programmes such as:
- «Preserving the Folk Traditions of the Peoples of Russia» (Faculty of Folk Art);
- «Voices of Many‑Faced Rus’» at the Meridian Cultural Centre;
- «Maslenitsa in Gorki» at the Gorki Leninskiye Museum‑Reserve;
- «Svetozvony», a festival of young composers.
Under S. Yu. Belova’s direction, the ensemble has repeatedly won festival and competition awards, including:
- a Gold Diploma at the international competition «Slovakia Cantat 2012» in Bratislava;
- First Prize at the 3rd International «CIS Cup» Competition in Moscow, 2015;
- First Prize at the All‑Russian Festival‑Competition «Vechnye istoki» in Moscow, 2016;
- Second Prize at the 6th Open S. V. Smolensky Choral Festival in Kazan, 2016;
- Second Prize at the 5th International Festival‑Competition «Kak na rechke bylo na Fontanke» in St Petersburg, 2016;
- First Prize at the 10th CIS Cup Performers’ Competition in Moscow, 2023;
- Second Prize at the All‑Russian Folk‑Singing Festival‑Competition «Vechnye istoki» in Moscow, 2023;
- First Prize at the International Competition «Tantsuy i poy, Rossiya molodaya!» in Moscow, 2024;
- First Prize at the 7th All‑Russian Performers’ Competition «Muzyka. Talant. Otkrytiye» in Moscow, 2024;
- First Prize at the All‑Russian Festival‑Competition «Maly kazachy krug» in Moscow, 2024.
Since 2019 Svetlana Yuryevna has been chorus master of the Department’s folk choir.
During this period the folk‑singing ensemble has taken part in numerous projects and competitions, both within the academic curriculum and at all‑Russian level, including:
- festivals, forums, and creative meetings with leading Cossack choirs and ensembles, such as the «Creative Meeting for the 85th Anniversary of V. G. Zakharchenko with the Kuban Cossack Choir» and the Gala Concert of Russia’s leading Cossack groups within the federal project «Supporting Creative Projects in Cossack Culture»;
- the production of A. Tchaikovsky’s choral opera «Skaz o Borise i Glebe» in collaboration with choirs from Moscow, Tula, and Nizhny Novgorod and the Moscow Conservatory Chamber Choir under A. V. Solovyev, with the «Novaya Rossiya» Symphony Orchestra, within the «Festival of Arts» directed by Yuri Bashmet (Moscow, Sochi, Yaroslavl, Torzhok, Klin);
- concert programmes of the «Choirmasters of the 21st Century» project and the «Rozhdyonnye Rossiyey» (“Born by Russia”) festival in the Moscow Conservatory’s Concert Hall, 2022–2024;
- the educational project «Songs Flow from the Soul...» within the charitable programme of the St Prince Vladimir Church Foundation, 2021;
- a concert within the 8th International «YarFolkFest» in Yaroslavl;
- preparation, as chorus master, of concert programmes including «Folklore Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow», «Songs of the Earth», «Connecting Past and Present», and the choral opera «Rusalka» (text by A. S. Pushkin, music by I. Dudar).
The folk choir has received high praise at major competitions, including:
- First Prize at the 3rd All‑Russian Folk‑Singing Competition named after Ye. P. Rodygin in Yekaterinburg, 2021;
- First Prize at the All‑Russian Folk‑Song Competition «Orel sizokrylyy» in Oryol, 2023;
- First Prize at the 7th All‑Russian Patriotic Song Festival‑Competition named after A. S. Yareshko «Pesni, rozhdyonnyye v boyakh» in Saratov, 2023;
- Grand Prix at the 16th International Festival‑Competition «Tantsuy i poy, Rossiya molodaya!» in Moscow, 2023.
Within the pedagogical practice sector of the Gnesin Academy she has established a student folk‑song ensemble where students, under her guidance, learn methods and techniques for working with children on a folklore basis.
From 2012 to 2016 Svetlana Yuryevna was chief chorus master and a soloist of the folk group «YaR‑marka» of the Vladimir Devyatov Russian Culture Centre in Moscow.
S. Yu. Belova has served on juries for competitions including:
- the All‑Russian Folklore Competition «Kazachy krug» (2023, 2024);
- the Inter‑regional Festival‑Competition «Rodnaya zemlya» in Vladimir, 2021;
- the All‑Russian Festival‑Competition «Radost planety» (2023, 2024);
- the All‑Russian Multi‑Genre Competition «Yarmarka talantov», 2024;
- the International Competition «Severnaya mozaika» (2023, 2024), among others.
