Victoria Poleva - Biography

Biography

Born on September 11, 1962 in Kiev, Ukraine, daughter of composer Valery Polevoy (1927–1986). Graduate of Kiev State P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatoire (class of composition with Prof. Ivan Karabyts) 1989. Post-graduate studies completed there in 1995 under Prof. Levko Kolodub. 1990-1998 - lecturer in the faculty of composition, 2000-2005 – at the Music Information Technologies Department of the P.I. Tchaikovsky Ukrainian National Music Academy. Since 2005 – freelance composer.

A genre range of her compositions includes symphonic, choral, chamber music. Early works of Victoria Poleva were related to the aesthetics of the avant-garde and polystylistics (ballet "Gagaku", "Transform" for symphony orchestra, "Anthem" for chamber orchestra, "Еpiphany" for chamber ensemble, cantatas "Horace’s ode", "Gentle light"). From the late 1990s her music became identified stylistically with "sacred minimalism" (A. Pärt, P. Vasks, J. Tavener, H. Gorecki). An important period in Victoria Poleva’s creative work is related to intensive studies and embodiment of texts from divine services in the music.

Works of Victoria Poleva are performed at Beethovenfest Bonn (Germany), Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival (Austria), Yuri Bashmet’ Festival in Minsk (Belarus), Valery Gergiev’ Easter Festival in Moscow (Russia), Chamber Music Connects the World (Kronberg, Germany), Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Philharmonie Berlin, Köln Philharmonie (Germany), Theatre de Chatelet Paris (France), Rudolfinum-Dvorak Hall (Prague, Czech Republic), Concert Auditorio Nacional de Espana (Madrid, Spain), George Weston Recital Hall (Toronto, Kanada), Yerba Buena Theater San Francisco (USA), Oriental Art Center Shanghai (China), Seoul Art Center (Korea), Esplanade Concert Hall Singapore, festivals of the new music in Ukraine, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, UAE, Peru and Chile.

In 2010, among such composers as Giya Kancheli, Valentin Silvestrov, Leonid Desyatnikov, Aleksander Raskatov, Alexander Wustin, Victor Kissine and Georgs Pelecis, Victoria Poleva has taken part in Gidon Kremer's international project «The Art of Instrumentation», devoted to Johann Sebastian Bach and Glenn Gould.

In 2011 Victoria Poleva was invited by Gidon Kremer as composer-in-residence at the XXX Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival (Austria).

Among the performers of her works are:

• Gidon Kremer (violin), Andrei Pushkarev (vibraphone), Aleksei Ogrintchouk (oboe), Elsbeth Moser (accordion), Chamber orchestra "Kremerata Baltica", Giedre Dirvanauskaite, Chamber trio "CAT", ensembles "New music in Ukraine", "Ricochet", strings quartets "Harmony of the world", "Archi", duet "Violoncellissimo" (Ukraine), Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble (Russia), "Atros-trio", "Avalon-trio", "Zurich’ Ensemble of New Music" (Switzerland), "Accroche note" (France)
• conductors Volodymyr Sirenko, Roman Kofman, Arild Remmereit, Valery Matyukhin, Bohodar Kotorovych, Viktor Ploskina, Volodymyr Runchak, Petro Tovstukha, Ihor Andriivskiy, Natalia Ponomarchuk, Simon Camartin;
• choral conductors Iryna Sablina, Marianna Sablina, Halyna Horbatenko, Mykola Hobdych, Volodymyr Syvohip, Dmytro Radyk, Larysa Bouhonska, Natalia Krechko, Oksana Mykytiuk, Olena Radko, Bohdan Plish, Alena Slovey, Boris Alvarado.

Victoria Poleva is a winner of «Spherical Music» international competition (USA, 2008), a Laureate of the Prize of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine instituted in honour of Borys Lyatoshynsky (2005), a Winner of the All-Ukrainian Competition "Psalms of the Third Millennium" (2001, 1st prize), a Laureate of the Prize of the Ministry of Culture and Arts of Ukraine instituted in honour of Levko Revutsky (1995).

Since 2006 the Swiss agency "Sordino Ediziuns Musicalas" has been publishing her works.