Marina V. Medvedeva

Teacher, methodologist, folklorist, public figure, and author of folk‑song arrangements and settings.

In 1979 she graduated with honours from the Gnesin State Music and Pedagogical Institute as Choral Director in Folk Singing. Her teachers included People’s Artist of the USSR, Professor N. K. Meshko; Doctor of Pedagogy, Honoured Art Worker of Russia, Professor L. V. Shamina; Candidate of Art History, Professor N. V. Kalugina; Candidate of Art History, Professor S. L. Braz; and Doctor of Art History, Professor V. M. Shchurov.

Since 1979 she has taught in the Choral Conducting Department at the Gnesin Institute (now the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music), combining teaching with postgraduate study. She was the first to develop, for folk‑singing education, the specialised courses «Choral Arrangement» (1984) and «Choral Literature» (1989), which had no analogues in conservatoire practice.

In 1989 she successfully defended her Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences dissertation (speciality 13.00.02) on «Pedagogical Conditions for the Creative Development of Students in Choral Arrangement Classes».

For more than thirty‑nine years M. V. Medvedeva has taught a range of special subjects in the Department of Choral and Solo Folk Singing, including:

• «Folk Musical Creativity»;
• «Choral Arrangement»;
• «Choral Literature»;
• «Transcription of Folk‑Song Recordings»;
• «Solo Singing»;
• «Preparation of the Graduation Thesis»;
• «Foundations of Solo Improvisation»;
• «History of Folk‑Singing Performance»;
• «Characteristics of Folk‑Singing Polyphony»;
• «Old Russian Vocal Art».

Since 2012 these disciplines have been taught in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes 53.03.04 / 53.04.03 «Art of Folk Singing», including:

• «Research Work»;
• «Solo Singing»;
• «Methods of Teaching Professional Subjects».

In the assistant‑traineeship programme 53.09.02 «Vocal Performance. Folk Singing» she teaches:

• «Arrangement and Setting of Folk Songs»;
• «History and Theory of Folk‑Singing Art».

M. V. Medvedeva is constantly involved in organising and running academic conferences and seminars, including:

• «Folk‑Singing Education in Russia: Problems and Paths of Development» (1992–1993);
• «The Culture of Folk Singing» (1998);
• «Problems of Folk‑Singing Performance and Education» (2004–2015);
• «Problems and Prospects of Folk‑Singing Performance and Education» (2016–2017);
• «The Art of Folk Singing: Tradition, Performance, and Pedagogy» (2015–2017).

Each year she gives masterclasses within the Moscow city project «University Saturdays».

M. V. Medvedeva is the author of more than ninety published scholarly works and over thirty degree‑programme syllabi in accordance with third‑generation federal educational standards.

Among her graduates are more than fifty laureates of all‑Russian and international competitions, as well as teachers at leading Russian higher‑education and specialised secondary institutions in the field of folk‑singing education.

In 2000 she was awarded the academic title of Professor. Alongside her research and methodological work she has remained continually active as a practising musician, creating numerous arrangements and settings performed by student and professional folk‑singing ensembles and soloists, including the M. Ye. Pyatnitsky State Academic Russian Folk Choir, the State Academic Northern Russian Folk Choir, the Russian Song Choir of the VGTRK, the ensembles «Russkaya pesnya», «Karagod», and «Russkiy Sever», the trio «Lada», and the folk choirs of the Gnesin Academy and the A. G. Schnittke Moscow State Institute of Music.

M. V. Medvedeva has repeatedly served as chair and jury member at all‑Russian and international competitions, including:

• the O. Kovalyova Folk‑Song Performance Competition (1999–2001);
• «Yeseninskaya Rus’» (2006);
• «Roza vetrov» (“Rose of the Winds”, 2008–2011);
• «Festos» (2000–2015);
• «Khraniteli naslediya Rossii» («Guardians of Russia’s Heritage», 2008–2015, 2008–2017 in subsequent cycles);
• the 3rd International V. Gorodovskaya Competition (2008);
• «Poy, Rossiya molodaya» («Sing, Young Russia», 2007);
• «Tantsuy i poy, Rossiya molodaya» («Dance and Sing, Young Russia», 2008–2010, 2013);
• «Vechnye istoki» («Eternal Sources», 2010–2017);
• «Zolotoy kolos» («Golden Ear», 2015–2017);
• «Novoye pokolenie» («New Generation», 2004–2017);
• «MOSGAZ zazhigayet zvezdy» («MOSGAZ Lights the Stars», 2015–2017);
• «Kubok Soyuznogo gosudarstva i stran SNG» («Cup of the Union State and CIS Countries», 2013–2017);
• «Muzyka zemli» («Music of the Earth», 2016–2017), among others.

Under her direction, the following all‑Russian festivals‑competitions have been established and are held on a regular basis:

• «Folklornyye studii» («Folklore Studios», 2006);
• «Molodyye talanty Rossii» («Young Talents of Russia», 2011);
• «Novoye pokolenie» («New Generation», 2004–2017);
• «Vechnye istoki» («Eternal Sources», 2010, 2012–2017).

M. V. Medvedeva has served on licensing and accreditation commissions for a number of institutions, including the Smolensk and Stavropol Institutes of Arts, N. P. Ogaryov National Research Mordovia State University, and the Vysshaya shkola iskusstv imeni V. Devyatova (Higher School of Arts named after V. Devyatov).

In 2008 she was awarded the honorary title «Honoured Worker of Higher Education of the Russian Federation». For many years she has chaired State Examination Boards at a number of conservatories and colleges, including the Saratov L. V. Sobinov State Conservatory, Moscow Pedagogical State University, the Moscow State Institute of Culture, the Krasnoyarsk State Institute of Arts (Conservatory), N. P. Ogaryov Mordovia State University, the St. Tikhon Orthodox University of Humanities, the Tver and Vladimir Music Colleges, and the A. N. Scriabin Moscow Regional Music College in Elektrostal.

At present M. V. Medvedeva chairs the Folklore Commission of the Moscow Musical Society and holds the title «Honoured Worker of the Moscow Musical Society». She is a member of the board of the public academy «Golos» in Moscow.

She has been awarded the Order «For the Revival of Russia. 21st Century».

Over the past three years she has curated and authored the subscription concert series «Folk Song: From Past to Future», with two to three concerts each year in the Small Hall of the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music. Since 2016 she has been a member of the working group of the Sectoral Commission for Cossack Culture of the Presidential Council for Cossack Affairs.

In recent years she has compiled and edited the collection of scholarly articles «Problems and Prospects for the Development of Folk‑Singing Performance and Education in Russia», dedicated to the centenary of People’s Artist of the USSR, Professor N. K. Meshko, and the fiftieth anniversary of folk‑singing education in Russia, based on materials from all‑Russian conferences within the «Vechnye istoki» festival‑competition (Moscow: Probel‑2000, 2017, 192 pp.). For the anniversary of the Department in 2016 she prepared and published a brochure marking fifty years of folk‑singing education and the centenary of Nina Konstantinovna Meshko, founder of the «Gnesin School of Folk Singing»; a further commemorative booklet followed in 2017.

Among her published articles are:

• «Song and Instrumental Folk Performance: Interaction and Stage Realisation», in: Preserving National Traditions in Folk‑Instrumental Art: Problems and Prospects, Proceedings of the All‑Russian Conference (Moscow: Probel‑2000, 2017), pp. 25–31;
• «N. K. Meshko’s School of Folk Singing and Its Protective Role in Teaching Students of Folk‑Singing Departments», in: Proceedings of the 6th International Phoniology Congress «Voice‑Saving Technologies: Clinical, Hygienic, and Pedagogical Aspects» (Moscow: Granitsa, 2017), pp. 45–52;
• «The History of the Formation of the “Gnesin School” of Folk Singing: Performance and Pedagogy», in: Gnesin Pedagogical Schools: History and Contemporaneity (in press);
• «Arrangement as a Form of Creative Engagement with Song Folklore», in: History, Theory, and Practice of Folklore, collected papers from the 5th All‑Russian Folklore Readings (Saratov: L. V. Sobinov Saratov State Conservatory, 2017), pp. 59–64;
• «The History and Prospects of Folk‑Singing Education in Russia: The “Gnesin School” of Folk Singing», in: Problems and Prospects for the Development of Folk‑Singing Performance and Education in Russia (Moscow: Probel‑2000, 2017), pp. 13–28;
• «Nina Konstantinovna Meshko: On the Centenary of the Master», in: the same volume, pp. 45–54.

M. V. Medvedeva has delivered papers at the following academic conferences:

• International Conference «Gnesin Pedagogical Schools: History and Contemporaneity» (Gnesin Academy, 1–2 March 2017);
• All‑Russian Conference «Preserving National Traditions in Folk‑Instrumental Art: Problems and Prospects» (Gnesin Academy, 25 March 2017);
• 6th International Phoniology Congress «Voice‑Saving Technologies: Clinical, Hygienic, and Pedagogical Aspects» (International Russian Public Voice Academy, 17 April 2017);
• All‑Russian Conference «Problems and Prospects for the Development of Folk‑Singing Performance and Education in Russia» (Gnesin Academy, 19 April 2017);
• All‑Russian (with international participation) Conference «Current Issues in Voice Preservation» (2 December 2017).

Students of M. V. Medvedeva’s class have repeatedly won laureate titles at all‑Russian and international competitions, including:

• the All‑Russian Festival‑Competition «Vechnye istoki», where Ekaterina Brinchugova won First Prize;
• the Moscow Inter‑University Festival‑Competition «Leyasya, golos moy privolno» (MGIK), where Ekaterina Brinchugova won First Prize and Indira Minabutdinova Second Prize;
• the 4th International Student Competition for Folk‑Instrument Performers of CIS Countries (folk vocal category), where Ekaterina Brinchugova won First Prize.