Elena E. Strikovskaya

Elena Evgenievna Strikovskaya was born in Moscow. She studied at the Central Music School at the Moscow Conservatory (class of Professor Ya. I. Milshtein), then at the Gnesin State Musical and Pedagogical Institute (now the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music) in the class of Professor B. M. Berlin (solo piano), with E. M. Slavinskaya (collaborative piano) and V. P. Samoyletov (chamber ensemble), and in 1985 she completed the assistant traineeship there in solo piano (class of B. M. Berlin).

From 1980 to 1991 she was accompanist of the Moscow Chamber Choir under People’s Artist of the USSR V. N. Minin, and also led an active concert career, appearing in prestigious concert halls in Russia and abroad (Japan, South Korea, Italy, France, Spain, Germany and other countries) with conductors V. Spivakov, S. Sondeckis, V. Fedoseyev and with soloists E. Obraztsova, E. Nesterenko, Z. Sotkilava and other renowned musicians.

Since 1990 E. E. Strikovskaya has taught in the Department of Collaborative Piano at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, where she is currently a leading professor. Over thirty-two years more than two hundred students and fifteen postgraduates and assistant-trainees have completed her class, including over fifty competition laureates. Among them are university teachers in Russia and abroad (including the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, where four teach in the Collaborative Piano Department), accompanists of the Bolshoi Theatre (four) and other music theatres, ensembles and educational institutions.

E. E. Strikovskaya is not only a distinguished teacher and performer, but also an educator and initiator of numerous artistic projects, including «The Art of the Accompanist», «Piano and Voice», «The Golden Age of the Russian Art Song», «Singer and Accompanist», «The Master’s Students» (to mark the centenary of Bolshoi Theatre accompanist and conductor E. M. Slavinskaya), the annual festivals «School of the Master» (dedicated to Honoured Artist and Professor B. M. Berlin), and the festivals «Homage to Shostakovich», «Homage to G. Sviridov» and others.

She was the organiser 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» (2005) and of the International Festivals «Musical Bridge of Friendship Russia–USA» (2005–2007) in cooperation with the Peabody Conservatory (Baltimore, USA).

Her most ambitious project is the author’s socio-cultural project «Gnesin Public Daytime Philharmonic», within which, over fifteen years of Saturday morning concerts in the Music Salon of the Shuvalova House, more than three hundred free educational concerts have been given, grouped into cycles such as «Folklore in Classical Music», «In the Mirror of Poetry», «The History of the Art Song in Portraits», «The Voice of Romanticism», «Composer Portrait», «Paths of German Song», «School of the Master», «Russian 20th Century: From the Past into the Future», presenting an almost complete encyclopaedia of chamber-vocal and operatic classics from the Baroque to the 20th century.

Under her direction, the cycle «Opera Synopsis» has featured staged performances of Rachmaninoff’s «Aleko», Dargomyzhsky’s «Rusalka», Tchaikovsky’s «Eugene Onegin», «Iolanta» and «The Queen of Spades», Mozart’s «Don Giovanni», Bizet’s «Carmen», Puccini’s «La bohème», Verdi’s «La traviata» and «Otello», Giordano’s «Andrea Chénier» and others.

Her latest large-scale project, «Medtner Marathon: Anthology of Vocal Works in Nine Concerts» (106 works), is unprecedented both in Russia and abroad and is presented in the audio archive of the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music on the YouTube channel «Metner-marafon» (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-fPFf0f2lO4hWJlNSaXrSA).

In addition to her performing and educational activities, E. E. Strikovskaya carries out extensive scholarly and methodological work: she serves on juries of various competitions and festivals, gives masterclasses, seminars and professional development courses, and participates in scholarly conferences.

She is the author of more than twelve methodological and teaching manuals and around twenty publications, including:

• Strikovskaya E. E., «The Work of the Accompanist in the Choral Conducting Class and Choir», in: Aspects of Training Pianists at the Music Academy, collected papers, vol. 141, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, Moscow, 2000, 128 p., pp. 67–81;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «A Woman Conductor – the Only One in 225 Years of History (On Bolshoi Theatre Conductor and Accompanist E. M. Slavinskaya)», in: Bolshoi Theatre newspaper, No. 29 (2566), 15 December 2000;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «Accompanist, Conductor, Teacher Evgenia Mikhailovna Slavinskaya. On the Centenary of Her Birth», text and compilation by E. E. Strikovskaya, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2000, 24 p.;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «Boris Moiseevich Berlin (On the 95th Anniversary of His Birth)», in: Philharmonic journal, Moscow, No. 2/2001, 64 p., pp. 41–51; PI No. 77-3104 of 10.04.2000;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «I Sit Down at the Piano and Play a Few Notes...» On the 95th Anniversary of B. M. Berlin, in: Piano journal, Moscow: EPTA, No. 1 (11), 2001, 32 p., pp. 11–17;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «Our Tuning Fork (On V. O. Semenyuk)», in: Muzykant, Moscow, No. 4 (9), April 2002, 44 p., pp. 6–15;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «The Art of the Accompanist. Questions of History, Pedagogy and Practice», in: Proceedings of the 1st Open All-Russian Scholarly and Practical Methodological 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», Department of Collaborative Piano, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, Moscow, 2005, 168 p.; editor and compiler E. E. Strikovskaya, ISBN 5-8269-0102-0;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «From the Compiler», in: the same volume, pp. 5–9, ISBN 5-8269-0102-0;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «The Collaborative Piano Class: Subject Specifics and Teaching Features. Curriculum and Teaching Methodology», in: the same volume, pp. 119–146, ISBN 5-8269-0102-0;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «B. M. Berlin’s Methods. The Direction of Piano Playing», in: B. M. Berlin: Musician, Personality, Teacher. On the Centenary of His Birth, collected papers, eds. A. M. Aksyonov, S. G. Dreznin, E. E. Strikovskaya, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, Moscow, 2006, 310 p., pp. 157–170, ISBN 5-8269-0108-X;
• Strikovskaya E., «Nikolai Medtner. The 14 Piano Sonatas in Two Evenings», Piano Journal (EPTA), London, No. 112, 2017, 51 p., pp. 5–7, ISBN 0-571-54-031-7;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «Nikolai Medtner. All Piano Sonatas. A Cycle in Two Evenings», in: Musician Classic, No. 9–10, 2017, 32 p., pp. 18–20, Moscow, PI No. 77-17193;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «B. M. Berlin’s Pedagogical System», in: Gnesin Pedagogical Schools: History and Modernity, collected papers from the International Scholarly and Practical Conference, 1–2 March 2017, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, Moscow: Probel-2000, 2018;
• Strikovskaya E. E., Salnikova A. P., «N. K. Medtner’s Chamber-Vocal Legacy in the Project “Medtner Marathon”: Questions of Style and Interpretation», in: Piano journal, No. 2 (80), Moscow: EPTA, 2019, 32 p., pp. 10–16;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «Three Pushkin Romances by Medtner: Semantics of Poetic and Musical Text. An Interpretative Approach», paper presented at the International Scholarly Conference «Musicological Forum – 2020», 19–21 October 2020, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music;
• Strikovskaya E. E., «The YouTube Channel “Medtner Marathon”: A New Form of Presenting the Composer’s Work in the Internet Space (On the 140th Anniversary of N. Medtner’s Birth)», in: Musical Scholarship in the Cultural Context. Musicology and the Challenges of the Information Age, proceedings of the International Scholarly Conference, 27–30 October 2020, ed. T. I. Naumenko, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, Moscow, 2020, 586 p., ISBN 978-5-8269-0265-3;
• Elena Strikovskaya, Anna Salnikova, «The Complete Vocal Legacy of Medtner. The Story of a Concert Project», in: Nikolai Medtner. Unforgotten Motifs. On the 140th Anniversary of the Composer, collected papers, ed. E. B. Dolinskaya, Moscow: Research and Publishing Centre «Moscow Conservatory», 2021, 344 p., pp. 322–332;
• Elena Strikovskaya, «Evgenia Mikhailovna Slavinskaya – Accompanist, Conductor, Teacher. A Personality against the Background of an Era (On the 120th Anniversary of Her Birth)», in: Prospects for the Development of the Art of Accompaniment in the Context of Contemporary Educational Practice, collected papers, St Petersburg Conservatory.

E. E. Strikovskaya’s honours include:

• Honorary Diploma of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation «For a Significant Contribution to the Development of Culture» (2010);
• Letter of Appreciation from the Russian Academy of Education «For Many Years of Diligent and Fruitful Work in the System of Education and Science» (2020);
• Honorary title «Honorary Worker of the Sphere of Education of the Russian Federation» (2021).