Irina G. Kolenchenko

She graduated with distinction from the Gnesin State Music College in 2005, specialising in choral conducting (class of Irina A. Zlobina, Honoured Cultural Worker of the Russian Federation).

In 2010 she graduated with distinction from the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music with a degree in academic choral conducting (class of Larisa A. Popova, Honoured Art Worker of the Russian Federation, Professor), and in 2011 in folk choral conducting (class of Margarita A. Goreva, Honoured Cultural Worker of the Russian Federation, Professor). In her senior undergraduate years she distinguished herself in research work, giving papers at student scholarly and practical conferences (Moscow inter‑university scholarly and practical conference «Student Science», 29 November 2009; Moscow inter‑university conference «Choral Music Today: Dialogue Between Scholarship and Practice», 12 April 2010), and her research was awarded Third Degree Diploma at the «Student Science» conference (2009).

She continued her studies in postgraduate school at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music in the field 17.00.02 Musical Art, which she completed in 2014 (class of Natalia V. Pilipenko, PhD in Art Studies, Associate Professor). Her research interests lie in the field of choral music by contemporary Russian composers.

During her studies at the Academy and in postgraduate school she gained experience working with various children’s choirs: the ensemble «Lenok» of the non‑state educational institution «School Obraz» (laureate of First and Second All‑Russian Folk Art Competition «Guardians of Russia’s Heritage», 2008–2009), and the junior choir of the A. D. Artobolevskaya Children’s Music School (2008–2010).

From 2010 to 2013 she worked at Comprehensive School No. 1601 as a music teacher and teacher of extracurricular education (choir, music literature). During this period the choirs under her direction became laureates of the city competition «Every Class is a Choir!» (2011–2012).

From February 2012 she began teaching part‑time at the Gnesin College of the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music in the Solo Folk Singing Cycle Commission. She currently continues to teach at the College in the Solo Folk Singing Cycle Commission (folk song transcription and arranging, folk musical culture, folk song traditions, regional vocal styles, conducting, choral and ensemble score reading) and in the Choral Conducting Cycle Commission (choral solfeggio, children’s music school repertoire, methods of teaching choral disciplines, choral score reading, teaching practice).

Since September 2014 she has been a lecturer in the Department of Music Education of the Faculty of History, Theory, and Composition at the Academy, teaching the following specialist subjects: Music Education in General Schools, Study of Educational Repertoire, Choral Score Reading. She also works in the Department of Choral and Solo Folk Singing, where she teaches, in the part‑time division, choral literature, folk musical creativity, choral arranging, and the study of folk‑song and author choral scores.

Publications, competitions, conferences, and festivals:

She is actively continuing work on her PhD thesis under the supervision of Natalia V. Pilipenko, PhD in Art Studies, Associate Professor, regularly presents at scholarly and practical conferences, and is the author of 12 published scholarly articles and conference abstracts, including:

• «Spiritual and Creative Development of Children in Folk Vocal Ensemble Classes in a Religious School» in Preservation of Cultural Heritage: Problems and Prospects, vol. 2, proceedings of the scholarly and practical conference within the First Open Folk Art Festival «Guardians of Russia’s Heritage», Moscow, Cultural and Educational Centre «Kupina Neopalimaya», 2008, pp. 35–39;
• «The Folklore Component in Educating Primary School Children (Using Spiritual Verses as an Example)» in Preservation and Development of the Cultural Heritage of the Russian North: The Creative Legacy of N. K. Meshko, Arkhangelsk, State Academic Northern Russian Folk Choir, 2010, pp. 107–113;
• «On Genre and Stylistic Features of Russian Kanty» in Managing Vocational Education in the Region’s Social Sphere, Fifth Inter‑University Scholarly and Practical Conference, Podolsk, Moscow: Sovetsky Sport, 2011, pp. 127–133;
• «The History of the Spiritual Verse Genre and Its Interpretation in the Concert‑Action Pokayanie by V. Yu. Kalistratov» in Choral Music Today: Dialogue Between Scholarship and Practice, proceedings of the Moscow inter‑university scholarly conference, 12 April 2010, Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2011, pp. 34–43;
• «The Spiritual Verse Genre and Its Interpretation in the Concert‑Action Pokayanie by V. Yu. Kalistratov» in Research by Young Musicologists, issue 5, Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2011, pp. 28–38;
• «The Transformation of the Spiritual Verse Genre in the Works of N. A. Rimsky‑Korsakov» in the journal Regionology, Saransk, 2012, no. 4 (81), pp. 270–271;
• «Teaching Spiritual Verses to Primary School Children in Music Classes» in Managing Vocational Education in the Region’s Social Sphere, Sixth Inter‑University Scholarly and Practical Conference, Podolsk, Moscow: Sovetsky Sport, 2012, pp. 215–220;
• «The Spiritual Verse in the Works of Russian Composers» in Research by Young Musicologists, Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2012, pp. 37–45;
• «The Transformation of the Spiritual Verse Genre in the Concert‑Action Pokayanie by V. Yu. Kalistratov» in School of the Young Researcher, collected scholarly papers, issue 3 (10), based on conference materials at the Union of Moscow Composers, Moscow: Logoprint, 2013, pp. 52–63;
• «The Spiritual Verse: From Song Collection to Author’s Arrangement» in Research by Young Musicologists: Reforms in Music Education Through the Eyes of Students, collected papers from the international conference of postgraduates and students, 28–29 March 2013, Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2013, pp. 91–97;
• «The Role of Folk Songs in Educating Primary School Children» in Integration of Education, 2013, no. 3, pp. 122–123;
• «Three Spiritual Verses from Smolensk Province by A. O. Viskov: A Folk Genre and Its Realisation in Professional Music», in Research by Young Musicologists: collected papers from the All‑Russian scholarly conference of postgraduates and students dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 3–4 April 2014, Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2014, pp. 39–46;
• «Forms of Realisation of the Spiritual Verse in the Works of Russian Composers», in Musical Cultures of Finno‑Ugric Peoples: Problems of Study, Preservation, and Continuity, proceedings of the All‑Russian scholarly and practical conference with international participation, Saransk, 21 November 2013, compiled by S. A. Isaeva, Saransk: Mordovia University Press, 2016, pp. 64–67, ISBN 978‑5‑7103‑3086‑9;
• First inter‑university scholarly and practical conference «Creativity as a Condition for Effective Teaching», Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 12 April 2016, paper: «Creative Forms of Students’ Academic Work in the Course “Study of Educational Repertoire”»;
• Inter‑university conference «The Attraction of Time: Aspect, Combinatorics, Conceptuality, and Realities of Music», Union of Moscow Composers (28th Creative Assembly), 24 October 2016, paper: «A. O. Viskov’s Hymns in Memory of M. P. Mussorgsky: A Composer’s Interpretation of the Spiritual Verse»;
• All‑Russian scholarly and practical conference «Cultural Worlds of Finno‑Ugria: Experience of the Past in Models of the Future», 19–20 April 2016 (in‑absentia participation), paper: «Interpretation of the Spiritual Verse Genre in the Works of A. O. Viskov»;
• «The Significance of Folk Instruments in Performing Spiritual Verses» in Preservation of National Traditions in Folk‑Instrumental Art: Problems and Prospects, proceedings of the All‑Russian scholarly and practical conference, Moscow: PROBLEL‑2000, 2017, pp. 127–132, ISBN 978‑5‑98604‑604‑4;
• «The Spiritual Verse in the Works of A. O. Viskov: Subjects, Stylistic Layers, and Ways of Realisation» in School of the Young Researcher, collected scholarly papers, issue 6 (13), based on conference materials at the Union of Moscow Composers, editor‑compiler Irina M. Romashchuk, Moscow: Ritm, 2017, pp. 71–79, ISBN 978‑5‑98422‑322‑5;
• All‑Russian scholarly and practical conference «Preservation of National Traditions in Folk‑Instrumental Art: Problems and Prospects», 25 March 2017, paper: «The Significance of Folk Instruments in Performing Spiritual Verses»;
• Second inter‑university scholarly and practical conference «Creativity as a Condition for Effective Teaching», Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 11 April 2017, paper: «Requirements for Training Future Music Teachers Under Contemporary Teaching Conditions»;
• Sixth Moscow inter‑university scholarly and practical conference «Yurlov Readings», Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 18 April 2017, paper: «Teaching Practice in Pedagogical Work: Content and Teaching Methods for Students Specialising in Choral Conducting in College Conditions»;
• Third inter‑university scholarly and practical conference «Creativity as a Condition for Effective Teaching», Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 10 April 2018, paper: «A. T. Grechaninov’s Children’s Opera Yolochkin son: Experience of Performance with the Junior Choir of the Music School of the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music».