Born in 1957 in Moscow. In 1985 she graduated from the Ippolitov‑Ivanov Music College with a specialisation in Folk Singing, and in 1990 from the Gnesin State Music and Pedagogical Institute (now the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music) in Solo Folk Singing (class of Professor L. V. Shamina).
She has taught since 1990: from 1990 to 1993 at the Music College named after the October Revolution; from 1993 to 1996 as Senior Lecturer at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute named after V. I. Lenin; from 1996 to 2003 as Associate Professor in Solo Folk Singing at the Moscow State Institute of Music named after A. Schnittke; and from 2002 to 2010 as Pro‑Rector and teacher at the «Vysshaya shkola iskusstv, kultury i shou‑biznesa — XXI vek V. Devyatova».
Since 2002 she has been Associate Professor in the Department of Choral and Solo Folk Singing at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music. From 2006 to 2010 she taught Solo Folk Singing at the School‑Studio (College) named after T. A. Ustinova attached to the Pyatnitsky State Academic Russian Folk Choir. Since 2011 she has also taught at Vladimir Devyatov’s Children’s Folk‑Singing School, where she heads the Solo Folk Singing Department.
Alongside her teaching she has extensive performance experience:
- 1984–1985 — ensemble «Rossiyanochka», Mosconcert;
- 1985–1988 — State Academic Northern Russian Folk Choir, Arkhangelsk;
- 1988–1989 — ensemble «Mif», Tomsk;
- 1989–1991 — Moscow Regional Philharmonic.
She continues to perform in concerts across Russia (including Smolensk, Khanty‑Mansiysk, Ryazan, and Nizhny Novgorod) and abroad (Germany, Belarus, and Serbia).
Besides her teaching and performing, she is actively engaged in methodological work.
Her publications include:
- «Russkoye narodnoe penie kak raznovidnost vokalnogo iskusstva» (Moscow, Gnesin Academy, 1998);
- «Preemstvennost v sisteme narodno‑pevcheskogo obrazovaniya i novye uchebnye struktury» (Moscow, Gnesin Academy, 1999);
- «K voprosu o kulture narodnogo peniya» (Moscow, A. Schnittke Institute of Music, 2001);
- «K voprosu o preemstvennosti obucheniya narodnomu peniyu» in «Voprosy pevcheskogo iskusstva», issue 1 (Moscow, 2003);
- «Rabota nad dykhaniyem pri postanovke golosa u dirizherov narodnogo khora» (Moscow, Gnesin Academy, 2007);
- «O vokalnoy tekhnologii obucheniya narodnomu peniyu» (Moscow, Gnesin Academy, 2006), among others.
She has also authored teaching programmes, including:
- «Vokalny ansambl» (2000);
- «Pedagogicheskaya praktika» (2000);
- «Postanovka golosa» (2006);
- «Vokalnaya podgotovka»;
- «Metodika obucheniya narodnomu peniyu»;
- «Natsionalno‑regionalnye osobennosti narodnogo kostyuma».
She is also the compiler of the repertoire collection «Khrestomatiya narodno‑pevcheskogo pedagogicheskogo repertuara», vol. 1 (Moscow–Barnaul, 2006).
L. A. Shashkina serves on juries of many competitions, including:
- «Roza vetrov» (Kalachinsk, Omsk Region; Bugulma, Tatarstan, 2006; Cheboksary and Nizhny Novgorod, 2008; Moscow, 2010);
- «Solnechnyy zaichik» (Ryazan, 2004, 2005, 2007–2011);
- «Zazhgi svoyu zvezdu», an international children’s and youth creativity festival (Moscow, 2003–2009);
- «Moskovskie kanikuly» (Moscow, 2016);
- «Ulybki Rossii» (Suzdal, 2010–2018);
- «Zimnie zabavy» (Veliky Ustyug, 2011–2016);
- «Slavsya Otechestvo» (Moscow, Dmitrov, Kursk, Pavlovsky Posad, 2010–2020);
- «Volshebnaya lira» (Moscow, 2016);
- «Slavyanochka» (Brest, Belarus, 2013–2016);
- the Galina Kaybitskaya Competition (Kazan, 2014, 2016);
- «Neissyakaemy rodnik» (Fokino, 2016–2018), among others.
She regularly shares her extensive performing and teaching experience in masterclasses, seminars, and creative meetings, and presents papers at academic‑practical conferences in Moscow and many other cities in Russia and abroad.
She has frequently been invited to chair State Examination Boards at:
- Tver Music College (2007–2008);
- the Ryazan Music College named after G. and A. Pirogov (2011–2015);
- the Moscow Regional Basic Music College named after Scriabin in Elektrostal (2014–2016).
She acts as a reviewer of educational programmes and has trained more than thirty laureates of international and all‑Russian competitions, including Tsoi Sol Hi, S. Dukhova, N. Zhidkikh, N. Zaytsev, Yu. Pilipovich, I. Khamidova, A. Anisimova, M. Bazaleeva, A. Gevorgyan, I. Zabelena, A. Kuznetsova, Yu. Malinova, and M. Zagaynova.
She works closely with the International Charity Foundation «Novye imena», serves on its Artistic Expert Council, and her students and pupils perform across Russia and represent Russian folk art abroad. L. A. Shashkina is also an expert of the Methodological Centre for Folk Departments of the City of Moscow.
