Valeriya A. Petrova

Valeria Aleksandrovna Petrova graduated from the Gnesin Moscow Special School of Music, the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music in piano (class of Professor V. E. Zvereva), and completed the assistant traineeship in collaborative piano (supervisor – Professor V. A. Vlasov).

Since 1988 she has worked as accompanist at the Gnesin Moscow Special School of Music in the classes of People’s Artist of the RSFSR, Professor I. P. Mozgovenko (clarinet), People’s Artist of the RSFSR, Professor A. V. Korneev (flute); at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music in the class of People’s Artist of the USSR, Professor P. I. Necheporenko (balalaika); at the International Charity Foundation «New Names» under Iveta Voronova; and at the Moscow State Philharmonic Association «Mosconcert».

Since 1997 she has taught collaborative piano at the Gnesin Moscow Special School of Music.

She is a laureate of international competitions in the nominations «Piano» and «The Art of Accompaniment».

She has been awarded numerous diplomas at All-Russian and international competitions for her high professional artistry and diplomas as Best Accompanist of the competition.

Among them:

• Diploma as Best Accompanist at the 5th International Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Singers Competition (Moscow, 2014);
• Diploma as Best Accompanist at the 4th International Academic Solo Singing Competition of People’s Artist of Russia Galina Alekseyevna Pisarenko (Nizhny Novgorod, 2021).

Since 2000 V. A. Petrova has taught in the Department of Collaborative Piano at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music. Over twenty years around one hundred students have studied in her class. The successes of her students are marked by diplomas of laureates of All-Russian and international competitions in the nomination «Collaborative Piano Art» as well as diplomas for best accompaniment.

Her graduates are in high professional demand and work as accompanists at the Gnesin Moscow Special School of Music, the Gnesin College and Academy, the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the Ippolitov-Ivanov State Music Pedagogical Institute, the Moscow State Schnittke Institute of Music, the Popov Academy of Choral Art and other institutions, as well as abroad in Germany, the USA, Italy, the United Kingdom, China, Mongolia, Greece, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Latvia.

V. A. Petrova carries out extensive methodological and educational work, giving masterclasses, open lessons and lectures at professional development courses in Moscow and other Russian cities.

Member of juries:

• Member of the jury of the Moscow Music Schools Accompanists’ Review-Competition (Moscow, 2008);
• Member of the jury of the 9th Moscow Regional Accompanists’ Competition (Pavlovsky Posad, 2017);
• Chair of the piano jury at the 11th Sakhalin Festival-Competition «Children’s and Youth Assemblies of the Arts» (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 2020).

V. A. Petrova leads an active concert life, appearing as accompanist with soloists of the Bolshoi Theatre, the Novaya Opera Theatre, the Helikon-Opera Music Theatre and others, in concert halls in Moscow, St Petersburg, Sochi, Baku, Munich, Bad Tölz (Germany), London, Caserta (Italy), Reykjavik (Iceland), and in theatres La Scala (Milan, Italy), «Principal» (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) and «An-der-Wien» (Vienna, Austria).

As accompanist she has taken part in masterclasses of world-renowned stars Galina Vishnevskaya, Mirella Freni, Teresa Berganza, Dennis O’Neill, Tito Capobianco, Sherrill Milnes and Simon Estes.

Since 2002 V. A. Petrova has collaborated with the Galina Vishnevskaya Centre for Opera Singing. As principal accompanist she has taken part in productions of Gounod’s «Faust», Bizet’s «Carmen», Verdi’s «Rigoletto», Mussorgsky’s «Boris Godunov» and Leoncavallo’s «Pagliacci».

In 2015 Valeria Petrova and singer Lyubov Molina founded the creative association League of Music («Liga muzyki»), which unites professional artists – musicians, singers, actors, dancers and visual artists. In the cultural and educational projects of the League of Music, young performers and established masters reach out to today’s audiences, appearing in concert and museum halls across Russia and abroad.

Over five seasons (2015–2020) the audience has been presented with more than one hundred original concert programmes, including the educational cycles:

• «Golden Pages of Operatic Classics» (Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve, Moscow);
• «Classics and Contemporaries» (Russian-German House in Moscow);
• «The World and Music» (State L. N. Tolstoy Museum);
• «And the Magic Sound of Voices Flows» (Russian National Museum of Music);
• «Musical Thursdays on Tverskoy Boulevard 11» (M. N. Yermolova House-Museum);
• «Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. A Dedication in Three Parts» (Mosconcert on Pushchechnaya, Mirror Hall);
• «Giuseppe Verdi. A Dedication in Three Parts» (Mosconcert on Pushchechnaya, Mirror Hall);
• «Female Images in Opera» (Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve), and the programme «Russian Souvenir» (Harpa, Iceland).

Especially dear to the founders of the League of Music is the cycle of educational programmes for adults and children «Alma Mater. Dialogue of Generations», held at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music since 2017. The project’s main aim is to foster creative dialogue among musicians of all specialisations at the Academy and to strengthen the tradition of succession between generations of «Gnesins» – teachers, students and alumni.

V. A. Petrova has received numerous certificates and diplomas for her active involvement in charitable concert work, for promoting classical music, for training competition laureates and for her masterclasses. She has been awarded the Pushkin Medal «For Services to the Museum» for her outstanding contribution to the development of the A. S. Pushkin Museum-Reserve (2005) and the medal «For Friendship and Cooperation between Russia and Iceland» (2018).

Publications:

• Petrova V. A., «The Work of an Accompanist at the Galina Vishnevskaya Centre for Opera Singing», in: Proceedings of the 1st Open All-Russian Scholarly and Practical Conference «The Profession of Accompanist in the 21st Century: Tradition and Modernity in the New Musical and Cultural Situation. Problems of Teaching and Accompaniment Practice», Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2005, pp. 93–102. ISBN 5-8269-0102-0;
• Petrova V. A., «The Collaborative Piano Class at the Gnesin Moscow Special School of Music», in: Proceedings of the same conference, Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2005, pp. 93–102. ISBN 5-8269-0102-0;
• Petrova V. A., Sotnikova T. V., «Masterpieces of Bel Canto», anthology for singers and accompanists, Moscow: Buki Vedi Publishers, 2016, 150 p. ISBN 978-5-4465-1028-3;
• Petrova V. A., Sotnikova T. V., «On the Work of an Accompanist with a Vocalist: Stylistic Features of Performance and Overcoming Pitch Difficulties in the Bel Canto Repertoire», in: Musical Almanac of Tomsk State University, 2020, No. 9, pp. 94–107. ISSN 2618-8829;
• Petrova V. A., Molina L. V., Kotov D. A., «The Cultural and Educational Project “Not for the Sake of Glory”. Music. Mosaic. Prayer», in: Art at School, 2020, No. 4, pp. 53–59. ISSN 0859-4956-3174;
• Petrova V. A., Sotnikova T. V., teaching manual «Repertoire Lists in the Accompaniment Class: Solving Artistic, Stylistic and Technical Tasks», Moscow: Buki Vedi Publishers, 2021, 94 p. ISBN 978-5-4465-3174-5;
• Petrova V. A., «Specifics of the Accompanist’s Work in the Opera Theatre as Coach and Performer», in: Musical Art and Education, 2021, vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 61–70. ISSN 2309-1428.