Elena E. Strikovskaya

E. E. Strikovskaya (born in 1953) was born in Moscow. At the age of 6, she entered the Central Music School at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the class of A. D. Artobolevskaya, from which she graduated in 1972 with honors in the class of Professor Ya. I. Milstein. 

In 1973-1978, she studied at the Gnessin State Institute of Fine Arts in the classes of Professor B. M. Berlin, the concertmaster class — E. M. Slavinskaya, the chamber ensemble — V. P. Samoletov, then there in 1983-1985. in the assistant internship (solo piano) in the class of Professor B. M. Berlin.

She began her career in 1972 as an accompanist at the Moscow Music School No. 27, then in 1977 as an accompanist of the choral class and conducting class of the Honored Artist of Russia, Professor V. O. Semenyuk at the Gnessin State Medical Institute.

In 1979-1980, she toured in an ensemble with the Honored Artist of the Russian Federation M. Shaposhnikova in the cities of the USSR (Leningrad, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Omsk, Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Nakhodka, Krasnoyarsk, Norilsk, Odessa, Vinnytsia), which was noted in the press.

From 1980-1991, E. E. Strikovskaya was the concertmaster of the Moscow Chamber Choir of the People’s Artist of the USSR V. N. Minin. With this group she performed in the best concert halls of Moscow and Leningrad, toured the USSR and abroad in Japan, South Korea, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria with conductors V. Spivakov, S. Sondeckis, V. Fedoseev, V. Minin, V. Semenyuk, soloists E. Obraztsova, E. Nesterenko, Z. Sotkilava, N. Gerasimova, V. Baykov, and others.

Since 1990, E. E. Strikovskaya has been teaching at the Department of Concertmaster Training at the Gnessin Academy of Fine Arts (since 1997 — Associate Professor, since 2008 — Professor).

Over 35 years of teaching, her class has graduated more than 250 students and about 50 assistant trainees, graduate students and masters working in all cities of Russia and abroad. Among her students are Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Professor of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory N. Rubinstein, Associate Professor of the Gnessin Academy of Fine Arts S. Hitev, senior lecturer A. Wacker, associate professors of the Department of Concertmaster Training A. Salnikova, E. Lobanova, A. Oselkova, teacher E. Beketova, as well as concertmasters of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia (A. Zonova, A. Salnikova, A. Dikova, D. Norbutas). More than 20 of its graduates work in the USA, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, France, Germany, Austria, Georgia, Belarus. 

E. E. Strikovskaya is not only an educator but also a renowned concert performer and laureate of international competitions. While still a student, she won a competition for the best performance of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, which she subsequently performed with the Gnesin State Musical Pedagogical Institute Symphony Orchestra under the baton of O. Agarkov. 

She performs regularly with concert programs both as a soloist and in ensembles with prominent musicians. Her repertoire, in addition to piano works by Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Franck, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Lyadov, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich, includes all major chamber-vocal works.

E. E. Strikovskaya is the initiator and performer of numerous creative and educational projects, such as «The Art of the Accompanist», «Piano and Voice», «The Golden Age of the Russian Vocal Cycle», «Singer and Accompanist» and «Master’s Students» (dedicated to the centenary of E. M. Slavinskaya, accompanist and conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre of the USSR). She has also organized festivals including «Master’s School» (dedicated to B. M. Berlin), «A Tribute to Shostakovich», «Dedication to G. Sviridov», the «Russia-USA Musical Bridge of Friendship» (2005-2007, in collaboration with the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, USA), and many others.

For 20 years, she has led her own socio-cultural project, the «Gnesin Public Daytime Philharmonic» — a series of over 400 free educational concerts titled «Saturday Musical Matinees in the Shuvalova Music Salon». These concerts are organized into cycles such as «Folklore in Classical Music», «In the Mirror of Poetry», «The History of the Romance in Portraits», «The Voice of Romanticism», «Composer Portraits», «Paths of the German Lied», «Opera Synopsis», «The Russian 20th  Century: From the Past to the Future», «Opera Kaleidoscope», and «At the Turn of the Century: From Romanticism to Expressionism», which have presented virtually the entire chamber-vocal and operatic repertoire from the Baroque era to the 20th century. 

Within the «Opera Synopsis» cycle, she has staged operas including S. V. Rachmaninoff’s Aleko, A. S. Dargomyzhsky’s Rusalka, P. I. Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Iolanta, and The Queen of Spades, A. P. Borodin’s Prince Igor, W. A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni, G. Bizet’s Carmen and The Pearl Fishers, G. Puccini’s La Bohème, G. Verdi’s La Traviata and Otello, U. Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, and others.

One of E. E. Strikovskaya’s most significant projects, the «Medtner Marathon: An Anthology of Vocal Works in 9 Concerts», in which all 106 of Nikolai Medtner’s vocal compositions were performed, is unparalleled both in Russia and abroad. It has received widespread acclaim within the musicological community, marking a new milestone in the research and performance of Medtner’s vocal legacy. The complete collection is available in the  sound archive of the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music and online via the «NIKOLAI MEDTNER ALL SONGS» channel.

Professor Strikovskaya’s extensive scholarly and pedagogical work includes masterclasses, academic seminars, professional development courses, and jury service for various competitions in Moscow, Kazan, Vologda, Arkhangelsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Bratsk, Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Yaroslavl, and Tomsk. She also maintains a continuous exchange of professional experience with international colleagues in Austria, Germany, France, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, Greece, and Belarus.

In 2005, she initiated and organized the 1st Open All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference, «The Profession of the Accompanist in the 21st Century: Tradition and Modernity in the New Musical and Cultural Landscape. Challenges in Teaching and Accompaniment Practice». 

In 2020, she organized the scientific and practical seminar «The Vocal Galaxy of N. Medtner» (marking the composer’s 140th anniversary). 

Since 2022, Professor Strikovskaya has been leading an original educational project, «Creative Workshop of Professor E. E. Strikovskaya», which has hosted 25 masterclasses on chamber-vocal repertoire, featuring young faculty members, postgraduate students, accompanists, and soloists from opera houses and concert organizations.

E. E. Strikovskaya is the author of over 20 publications, scholarly-methodological manuals, and collections, including:

• Strikovskaya, E. E. «The Work of an Accompanist in the Conducting-Choral Class and Choral Ensemble.» In Aspects of Pianist Training in a Music University, Collection of Works, Issue 141, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, Moscow, 2000, pp. 67-81;
• Strikovskaya, E. E. «A Female Conductor — The Only One in a 225-Year History (On the Conductor and Accompanist of the Bolshoi Theatre of the USSR, E. M. Slavinskaya).» Bolshoi Theatre newspaper, No. 29 (2566), December 15, 2000;
• Strikovskaya, E. E. Accompanist, Conductor, Educator: Evgenia Mikhailovna Slavinskaya. On the Centenary of Her Birth. Gnesin Russian Academy of Music Publishing House, 2000, 24 p. (Author and compiler: E. E. Strikovskaya);
• Strikovskaya, E. E. (2005). Iskusstvo kontsertmeystera. Voprosy istorii, pedagogiki, praktiki [The Art of the Accompanist: Issues of History, Pedagogy, and Practice]. In Professiya kontsertmeystera v 21 veke: traditsiya i sovremennost’ v novoy muzykal’no-kul’turnoy situatsii. Problemy prepodavaniya i kontsertmeysterskoy praktiki [The Profession of the Accompanist in the 21st Century: Tradition and Modernity in the New Musical-Cultural Situation. Problems of Teaching and Accompaniment Practice] (pp. 168). Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music. (Editor and compiler E. E. Strikovskaya). ISBN 5-8269-0102-0;
• Strikovskaya, E. E. (2005). Kontsertmeysterskiy klass: spetsifika predmeta i osobennosti prepodavaniya. Programma i metodika obucheniya [The Accompaniment Class: Subject Specifics and Teaching Features. Curriculum and Teaching Methodology]. In Professiya kontsertmeystera v 21 veke: traditsiya i sovremennost’ v novoy muzykal’no-kul’turnoy situatsii (pp. 119-146). Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music. ISBN 5-8269-0102-0;
• Strikovskaya, E. E. (2006). Priemy B. M. Berlina [B. M. Berlin’s Techniques]. In Rezhissura igry na fortepiano. B. M. Berlin — muzykant, lichnost’, pedagog. K 100-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya [Directing Piano Performance. B. M. Berlin — Musician, Personality, Teacher. To the 100th Anniversary of his Birth] (pp. 157-170). Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music. ISBN 5-8269-0108-X. http://boris-berlin-piano-art.org/kniga.html;
• Strikovskaya, E. (2017). Nikolai Medtner: The 14 Piano Sonatas in Two Evenings. Piano Journal (EPTA), 112, 5-7. London. ISBN 0-571-54-031-7. https://epta-europe.org/content/piano-journal-no-112
• Strikovskaya, E. E. (2018). Pedagogicheskaya sistema B. M. Berlina [B. M. Berlin’s Pedagogical System]. In Gnesinskiye pedagogicheskiye shkoly: istoriya i sovremennost’ [Gnesin Pedagogical Schools: History and Modernity]. Proceedings of the International Scientific and Practical Conference, March 1–2, 2017. Moscow: Probel-2000;
• Strikovskaya, E. E. (2020). YouTube-kanal «Metner-marafon» Nikolai Medtner all songs — novaya forma prezentatsii tvorchestva kompozitora v internet-prostranstve (K 140-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya N. Metnera) [The «Medtner Marathon» YouTube Channel: Nikolai Medtner All Songs — A New Form of Presenting the Composer’s Work in the Internet Space (To the 140th Anniversary of N. Medtner’s Birth)]. In Muzykal’naya nauka v kontekste kul’tury. Muzykovedeniye i vyzovy informatsionnoy epokhi [Music Science in the Context of Culture. Musicology and the Challenges of the Information Age]. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference, October 27-30, 2020 (pp. 586). Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music. ISBN 978-5-8269-0265;
• Strikovskaya, E., & Salnikova, A. (2021). «The Complete Vocal Heritage of Medtner: The History of a Concert Project.» In E. B. Dolinskaya (Ed.-in-Chief) & M. G. Valitova (Eds.), Nikolai Medtner. Unforgotten Motifs. To the 140th Anniversary of the Composer: A Collection of Articles and Materials (pp. 322-332). Moscow: Moscow Conservatory Publishing House. ISBN 978-5-89598-414-7;
• Strikovskaya, E. (n. d.). «Evgenia Mikhailovna Slavinskaya: Accompanist, Conductor, Educator. A Personality Against the Backdrop of an Era (To the 120th Anniversary of Her Birth).» In Perspectives on the Development of Accompaniment Art in the Light of the Modern Educational Process (Collection of Scientific Papers). St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Conservatory;
• Strikovskaya, E. E., Salnikova, A. P., & Beketova, E. A. (2022). Editing the Piano Part of an Opera Vocal Score: Variants and Methods of Transforming Textural Difficulties (Educational and Methodological Manual). Moscow. 2 printer’s sheets. ISBN 978-5-4465-3728-0.

Professor E. E. Strikovskaya’s professional achievements have been recognized with the following awards:

• Certificate of Honor from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation «For a Great Contribution to the Development of Culture» (2010);
• Letter of Gratitude from the Russian Academy of Education «For Many Years of Conscientious 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).