ZAGAYKEVYCH, Alla (1966- ); UKR [f] [all files] Gravitation, for 2 cellos (2001) [9:36 · 8.8M] Duo Violoncellissimo Heronja, for violin, cello, bassoon, piano, and tape (2002) [10:57 · 15.0M] Frescos Contemporary Music Ensemble V.Larchikov, Conductor Sans l'eloignement de la terre, for violin, accordion and guitar (1994) [13:49 · 19.0M] Cat Ensemble S.Okhrimchuk, Conductor

Alla Zagaykevych

Alla Zagaykevych was born in 1966 in Khmelnytsky, Ukraine, and began her formal music training at the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy in Kiev, where she studied composition and orchestration with Y. Ischenko. Upon graduating in 1990, Alla continued with a year of post-graduate work in theory with I. Piaskovsky and composition with Professor Ischenko. The following year (1995-96) she studied composition and music informatics at the Institute of IRCAM in Paris, where the main lecturers were Tristan Murail and Brian Ferneyhough. Rounding off her studies was a series of music workshops, including at the Foundation Royaumont (France), the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, Germany, and the International Music Festival in Takefu, Japan.

Alla has written works for a variety of forces, ranging from small chamber works to works for orchestra, as well as works for voice and instruments. A prominent part of her output, however, is dedicated to works for electronics, either alone or with one or more acoustic instruments - such as the composition Heroneya, featured here at the Classical Archives. In her earliest works, she tended to combine aspects of "intonation serialism" with the ideas of French spectral music; more recently she has adopted concepts of individualized algorithmic composition, as well as sound synthesis and instrumental sound processing within her electronic music. Her works have been performed by such ensembles as the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Chernigiv, and the Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal.

Among the principal awards received by Alla thus far include a Grant by the President of Ukraine for her chamber opera Numbers and Wind (1999), the Blaue Brucke International Grant for a multimedia project (2003), and the O.Dovzhenko National Award for the film music of Mamay (2004). In addition to her activities as a composer, she has performed in the folk ensemble Drevo (Kiev, 1986-99), and has served as the artistic director of the International Electro-acoustic Project in Kiev (2003), among other projects. Since 1998 she has also been a lecturer in computer music technology at the National Music Academy in Kiev.

Reviews

      "The music [of Alla Zagaykevich] featured extremely refined, delicate textural blends of exquisite instrumental writing and the most sophisticated type of electronic writing, the high quality of which was partially a result of the composer's studies at IRCAM in Paris. Altogether the performance produced an extremely uplifting artistic impact, being one of the finest in the festival."

New Music Connoisseur (Russia)

Alla Zagaykevych email: allaz@ukr.net