Irina S. Zakharbekova

Musicologist, teacher, music‑community figure, and performer.

In 2010 she graduated from the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music (class of Professor T. V. Tsaregradskaya). In 2013 she completed postgraduate studies at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music (supervisor: T. V. Tsaregradskaya).

Her Candidate dissertation topic: «The Artistic World of Maurice Ravel’s Music‑Theatre Works».

She owes her professional formation to teachers L. A. Zagvozdina, N. S. Dubova, and V. D. Nyrkova. In 2011 she completed a French‑language course at Université Laval (Quebec, Canada), followed by an internship there in 2012. She is fluent in English and French.

In 2020 she completed the online courses «Copyright Law in the Music Business» (Berklee College of Music) and «Speak English Professionally: In Person, Online & On the Phone» (Georgia Institute of Technology).

She began her teaching career in children’s music and general‑education schools. From 2003 to 2005 she taught music literature and solfeggio at the Children’s Music School in Elektrougli; from 2009 to 2010 she was a teacher of extracurricular music education at Secondary School no. 1243 in Moscow; from 2010 to 2015 she taught solfeggio at the Dmitry Shostakovich Children’s Music School in Moscow.

Since 2013 she has taught in the Department of Music Theory at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music.

She has developed a number of syllabi for courses in Solfeggio and Harmony (for bachelor’s programmes in Ethnomusicology, Computer Composition, and Music Journalism), «Arranging and Harmonisation» (bachelor’s in Piano), «Music Pedagogy in Children’s Art Schools» (bachelor’s in Music Pedagogy), «Research Methods» (master’s programmes in various specialisations), «Foundations of Public Lecturing» (bachelor’s in Music Journalism and Musicology), and «Lecture and Teaching Practice» (bachelor’s and specialist degrees in Musicology).

From 20 to 25 January 2020 she gave masterclasses at the international ear‑training forum «Sentiamoci 2020: Ear‑Training Workshop» in Parma, Italy.

From 2010 to 2012 she worked as a critic for the magazine Sed’moy kontinent: stolichnoye revyu (Seventh Continent: Capital Review) in Moscow.

She is active in music education and outreach as author and presenter of literary‑musical programmes and classical‑music concerts in Moscow, including the «Prechistenka Fridays» series at the Central House of Scientists, «January Evenings 2012, 2013», the Sixteenth Moscow International Festival of Young Soloists, the Moscow International Festival «Rendez‑Vous», «MABA‑Fest», and others.

She was a diploma‑winner at the Sixth all‑Russian Festival‑Competition of Music‑Education Programmes (programme «The Adult Life of Maurice Ravel’s Childlike Soul», Moscow, 2011) and Grand Prix laureate at the Fourth all‑Russian Festival‑Competition of Music‑Education Programmes (programme «I Sharpen on the Skin of All Cordoba the Knife of Kisses», Moscow, 2009).

She performs as a piano accompanist in vocal and instrumental ensembles in both classical and non‑classical genres.

She serves as editor of several Gnesin Russian Academy of Music collections of scholarly articles and, since 2017, has been editor of the online peer‑reviewed journal «Sovremennyye problemy muzykoznaniya» («Contemporary Musicology Issues»).

She is a regular speaker at international scholarly conferences in Moscow, including «Musicology in the Cultural Context», «Opera in the Musical Theatre: History and Modernity», and «Scholarly Schools in Musicology of the Twenty‑First Century», and takes part in organising scholarly, educational, and methodological events at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music.

In 2021 she received the badge of honour «Molodoy uchenyy» («Young Scholar») from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

She is the author of articles in the collections Issledovaniya molodykh muzykovedov («Research of Young Musicologists»), Gnesinskaya nauchnaya shkola XXI veka («The Gnesin Scholarly School in the Twenty‑First Century»), Muzykal’naya nauka v kontekste kultury («Musicology in the Cultural Context»), Opera v muzykal’nom teatre: istoriya i sovremennost’ («Opera in the Musical Theatre: History and Modernity»), Muzykal’noye obrazovaniye v kontekste kultury: voprosy teorii, istorii i metodologii («Music Education in the Cultural Context: Questions of Theory, History, and Methodology»), and others, as well as in the journals Muzykovedeniye («Musicology»), Teatr. Zhivopis’. Kino. Muzyka («Theatre. Painting. Cinema. Music»), Muzykal’naya akademiya («Music Academy»), Uchenyye zapiski Rossiyskoy akademii muzyki imeni Gnesinykh («Scholarly Notes of the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music»), Sovremennyye problemy muzykoznaniya, and others.

Selected publications:

• I. S. Zakharbekova, Khudozhestvennyy mir muzykal’nykh proizvedeniy Morisa Ravelya: obraznyye konstanty i poetika («The Artistic World of Maurice Ravel’s Musical Works: Imagery Constants and Poetics»), teaching and methodological aid, Moscow, Sam Poligrafist, 2020, 110 pp., ISBN 978‑5‑00166‑058‑3.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, Muzykal’no‑teatral’nyye sochineniya M. Ravelya v kontekste frantsuzskoy kultury nachala XX veka («Maurice Ravel’s Music‑Theatre Works in the Context of Early Twentieth‑Century French Culture»), teaching and methodological aid, Moscow, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2018, 150 pp., ISBN 978‑5‑00077‑704‑6.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «“Learn, Strive, Fill Your Suitcase with Knowledge”: Lessons of Vera Dmitriyevna Nyrkova», Uchenyye zapiski Rossiyskoy akademii muzyki imeni Gnesinykh, 2020, no. 1, pp. 102–108, ISSN 2227‑9997.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «Pop Arranging as Material for the Solfeggio Lesson», in Estradno‑dzhazovoye iskusstvo: istoriya, teoriya, praktika («Popular and Jazz Music: History, Theory, Practice»), proceedings of the Second International Scholarly‑Practical Conference, Moscow, Akademicheskiy proyekt, 2020, pp. 266–273, ISBN 978‑5‑8291‑348‑6.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «The Theme of Childhood in Nineteenth‑Century French Music: Towards a Statement of the Problem», Sovremennyye problemy muzykoznaniya, 2019, no. 4, pp. 3–32, ISSN 2587‑9731.
• I. S. Zakharbekova and D. A. Nagina, «The International Scholarly Forum “Opera in the Musical Theatre: History and Modernity”», Sovremennyye problemy muzykoznaniya, 2019, special issue, pp. 3–80, ISSN 2587‑9731.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «Ravel the Arranger: On the Composer’s Work on Piano and Orchestral Transcriptions», Sovremennyye problemy muzykoznaniya, 2019, no. 3, pp. 44–72, ISSN 2587‑9731.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «The Paris Opéra‑Comique in the Early Twentieth Century: Management, Administration, Repertoire», in Opera v muzykal’nom teatre: istoriya i sovremennost’, proceedings of the international conference (11–15 November 2019), vol. 2, ed. I. P. Susidko, Moscow, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2019, pp. 331–338, ISBN 978‑5‑8269‑0253‑0.
• I. S. Zakharbekova and N. S. Bukuri, «“The Hour” and “The Clock” in the Libretto of Ravel and Franc‑Noain’s L’Heure espagnole: A Play of Words and Sounds», Muzykal’naya akademiya, 2019, no. 2 (766), pp. 134–146, ISSN 0869‑4516.
• I. S. Zakharbekova and D. A. Nagina, «Musicology Today: The View of a Young Researcher», Uchenyye zapiski Rossiyskoy akademii muzyki imeni Gnesinykh, 2019, no. 2, pp. 79–81, ISSN 2227‑9997.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «The Trial Tenor and the Martin Baritone in Ravel’s Music Theatre», Sovremennyye problemy muzykoznaniya, 2018, no. 1, pp. 72–100, ISSN 2587‑9731.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «À la manière de…: On Certain Features of Stilisation in Maurice Ravel’s Music», Uchenyye zapiski Rossiyskoy akademii muzyki imeni Gnesinykh, 2017, no. 3 (22), pp. 3–14, ISSN 2227‑9997.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «The Plots of Maurice Ravel’s Ballets: Sources and Principles of Formation», Sovremennyye problemy muzykoznaniya, 2017, no. 2, pp. 62–75, ISSN 2587‑9731.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «On the Course “Arranging and Harmonisation” for Piano Bachelor Students at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music», in Muzykal’noye obrazovaniye v kontekste kultury: voprosy teorii, istorii i metodologii, collected articles, ed. E. S. Derunets, Moscow, Probel‑2000, 2017, pp. 239–246, ISBN 978‑5‑98604‑631‑0.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «From the Experience of Creating a Literary‑Musical Composition», in Prosveshchenskaya deyatel’nost’ v kontekste muzykal’nogo obrazovaniya («Educational Work in the Context of Music Education»), collected articles, Moscow, Pero, 2015, pp. 34–51, ISBN 978‑5‑00086‑773‑0.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «On the Work of a Musicologist‑Educator», in Metodologicheskiye voprosy kursa fortepiano v aspekte prosveshchitel’stva («Methodological Questions of the Piano Course in the Aspect of Music Education»), collected articles, eds. V. D. Nyrkova and O. A. Yakupova, Moscow, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2014, pp. 57–66.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «Maurice Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye: Between Childhood and Adulthood», Gnesinskaya nauchnaya shkola XXI veka, collected works, issue 186 (4), Moscow, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2014, pp. 88–109, ISSN 2073‑9095.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «The Artistic World of Maurice Ravel’s Music‑Theatre Works: Principal Constants», Muzykovedeniye, 2013, no. 10, pp. 36–42, ISSN 2072‑9979.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «Maurice Ravel’s Music Theatre: Genre Features in L’Heure espagnole», Dom Burganova. Prostranstvo kultury («Burganov House. The Space of Culture»), 2013, no. 2, pp. 142–160, ISSN 2071‑6818.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «Maurice Ravel’s Music Theatre: The Mechanical Dance in La Valse and Boléro», Teatr. Zhivopis’. Kino. Muzyka, 2013, no. 3, pp. 152–169, ISSN 1998‑8745.
• I. S. Zakharbekova, «Maurice Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges: A Children’s Production? (On the Genre and Stylistic Features of the Work)», in Issledovaniya molodykh muzykovedov, inter‑university collection of postgraduate research papers, Moscow, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, 2011, pp. 179–187.