Mariya V. Vlasova

Performer and teacher.

She was born in Vladimir. She graduated from Children’s Art School No. 2 named after S. S. Prokofiev (class of Honoured Cultural Worker of the Russian Federation E. P. Shilov) and the Vladimir Regional Music College (class of Honoured Cultural Worker of the Russian Federation, Professor G. N. Lavrinenko). From 1999 to 2004 she studied at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music (class of People’s Artist of Russia, Professor F. R. Lips). From 2004 to 2006 she was an assistant trainee (under F. R. Lips).

She is a laureate of many international competitions, including Castelfidardo (Italy, 1995), Klingenthal (Germany, 2002, 2003, 2005), Arrasate (Spain, 2006), Tianjin (China, 2004), Moscow (Russia, 2005) and Cherepovets (Russia, 2004).

Since 2015 she has taught at the Bayan and Accordion Department of the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music.

She is a regular participant in Russian and international festivals, including «Moscow Autumn» (Moscow), «Bayan and Bayanists» (Moscow), «Return» (Moscow), «Transfiguration» (Yaroslavl), «Accordion Days» (Kragujevac, Serbia), «Vogtland Music Days» (Klingenthal, Germany), «Bridge of Alexander III» (Moscow), «Les Heures Concertantes de Touraine» (Loch, France), «Rencontres Musicales Internationales de Graves» (Bordeaux, France), Canterbury International Music Festival (Canterbury, England) and others.

She has given solo recitals in Poland, Ukraine, Germany, Austria, France, England, Denmark, Switzerland and the United States, as well as in many Russian cities.

M. Vlasova has collaborated with ensembles including:

• the State Academic Symphony Orchestra named after E. F. Svetlanov (conductor V. Jurowski);
• the State Academic Symphony Capella of Russia (conductor V. Polyansky);
• the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia (conductor A. Vedernikov);
• the «Seasons» Chamber Orchestra (conductor V. Bulakhov);
• the KREMLIN Chamber Orchestra (conductor M. Rakhlevsky);
• the State Ensemble of Soloists «Orfarión» (conductor O. Khudyakov);
• the Tver Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra «Russian Camera» (conductor A. Kruglov);
• the Vologda Governor’s Russian Folk Instruments Orchestra (conductor G. Perevozchikova);
• the Nizhny Novgorod Russian Folk Orchestra (conductor V. Kuznetsov);
• the Oryol Governor’s Symphony Orchestra (conductor V. Shkaptsov) and others.

Maria Vlasova’s repertoire includes major classical cycles such as J. S. Bach’s «Well‑Tempered Clavier», «French Suites» and «Goldberg Variations», P. Hindemith’s «Ludus tonalis», O. Messiaen’s «Birth of the Lord» (nine meditations for organ), P. I. Tchaikovsky’s «The Seasons» and M. P. Mussorgsky’s «Pictures at an Exhibition». She is the first performer of works by contemporary composers including Ye. Podgayts, M. Bronner, T. Sergeyeva, M. Shmotova, D. Zakharov, Ye. Zudilkina, V. Vasiliev, N. Popov, T. Shatkovskaya, A. Navetnaya, N. Mndoyants, A. Koppela, M. Romberg and E. Zhiko.

Maria Vlasova has twice been the subject of the «Observer» programme on Russia’s Culture Channel (2012, 2020). She has been a soloist of the Moscow State Academic Philharmonic named after P. I. Tchaikovsky since 2007 and is a participant in its unique bayan subscription series «BAYAN. RU» (devised by A. Ustinov).

For more than ten years she has successfully performed in duos with leading Russian musicians and international competition laureates: clarinettist Yevgeny Varavko (AkClardeon Duo), organist Konstantin Volostnov (Il duo Brilliante) and percussionist Viktor Sych. Since 2008, together with Svyatoslav Lips, she has been Artistic Director of the international festival of classical and contemporary music «Rendezvous» (Moscow).

By 2020 the Russian Artservice publishing house had released seven solo CDs by M. Vlasova: «Birth of the Lord», «Silhouette», «P. I. Tchaikovsky The Seasons – M. P. Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition», «Waiting for Tenderness», «Garden of Dreams», «Serious Variations» and «Emergence». With Yevgeny Varavko (clarinet) the French label Suoni e colori released the CD «Un air de tangos» (Paris, 2013).

In 2013 she defended her PhD thesis in art studies on «The Bayan Works of Mikhail Bronner» at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music (supervised by Professor T. I. Naumenko, Doctor of Art History).

Publications related to the PhD thesis in VAK‑approved peer‑reviewed journals:

• Vlasova, M. V. The Book Theme in Mikhail Bronner’s Bayan Works (using «Ave Maria» for bayan, cello and voice as an example) // Vestnik MGUKI. – 2011. – No. 6. – P. 215–219;
• Vlasova, M. V. The Bayan in Mikhail Bronner’s Works // Muzykoznanie. – 2013. – No. 11. – P. 30–34.

Other publications:

• Vlasova, M. V. On the Role of the Bayan in Mikhail Bronner’s «Abraham and Isaac» // School of Young Researchers. Conference Papers from the Union of Moscow Composers, ed. I. M. Romashchuk. – Moscow: Gnesin State Musical and Pedagogical Institute named after Ippolitov‑Ivanov, 2008. – P. 62–72;
• Vlasova, M. V. On the Performance Interpretation of Mikhail Bronner’s Waltz «And Autumn Again…» for Solo Accordion // Young Musicologists’ Research: Conference Papers, 15 April 2010, ed. T. I. Naumenko. – Moscow: IMLI RAN, 2010. – P. 158–163;
• Vlasova, M. V. Mikhail Bronner’s «St Matthew Passion». On the Role of the Bayan in the Composer’s Sacred Works // Young Musicologists’ Research: Collected Papers, ed. T. I. Naumenko. – Moscow: Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2011. – Issue 5. – P. 39–48;
• Vlasova, M. V. «The Bayan is Close to My Temperament. I Perceive It as Myself…». Interview with Composer Mikhail Bronner // School of Young Researchers. Collected Papers from the Union of Moscow Composers, ed. I. M. Romashchuk. – Moscow: Logoprint, 2012. – Issue 2 (9). – P. 143–152;
• Vlasova, M. V. Sacred Works by Young Composers // Papers from the LVI International Research Conference «In the World of Science and Art: Philology, Musicology and Cultural Studies». – Novosibirsk, 2016. – No. 1 (56). – P. 53–57;
• Vlasova, M. V. Mikhail Bronner’s Sacred Compositions // Culture and Civilisation, 2017. Vol. 7. No. 1A. – P. 516–522;
• Vlasova, M. V. Works by Russian Composers for Bayan at the Turn of the Twentieth and Twenty‑First Centuries // Culture and Civilisation. Bayan Art: The Twenty‑First Century. Collected Papers. – Moscow: Probiel‑2000, 2018. – P. 53–93.

Accordionist’s Chrestomathy. Classical and Contemporary Music (edited, compiled and transcribed by M. V. Vlasova). – Moscow: Muzyka, 2018. – 88 p. – ISMN 979‑0‑66006‑834‑2.

As a teacher and methodologist she is the author of curricula and gives masterclasses in Russia and abroad. She serves on the juries of Russian and international competitions.

In 2020 M. V. Vlasova received a Letter of Thanks from the Russian Minister of Culture.