We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Polina Nazaykinskaya. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Polina below.
Polina, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Music composition isn’t just a career—it’s a calling that gives my life purpose and fulfillment. My journey with music began in an unexpected, magical way. I was born and raised in Togliatti, a large industrial city in post-Soviet Russia, where my love for music blossomed at a very young age. My mom loves to tell the story of how, at age two, I crawled to the piano and played a melody from Glinka’s opera “Life for the Tsar.” I had heard my older siblings practicing the piece and managed to replicate the notes by ear despite never having touched the piano before.
What I didn’t realize at that tender age was that music was deeply embedded in my family’s history. My great-uncle was a distinguished professor of musicology at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Music was like the air I breathed—it was always there, surrounding me. At four, my parents enrolled me in a special Music Academy, where I learned to play the violin, piano, and flute. By seven, I was a regular performer at music festivals.
However, my musical journey wasn’t without its challenges. My childhood coincided with a period of financial instability in Russia, which meant my family faced significant economic hardships. Purchasing musical instruments was a struggle that required many sacrifices. I vividly remember one of the happiest moments of my childhood: the day my mother brought home my first “real” violin. Its beautiful, opulent sound fueled my passion for music even further.
As I grew older, I started supporting myself by winning prestigious regional and national music competitions and working part-time as a young musician. The years of rigorous learning and practice at the Academy and my early successes and failures in various music competitions instilled a strong work ethic and a relentless desire to prove myself. I learned early on that determination was key to success—a lesson that would serve me well throughout my life.
These valuable lessons guided me through my teenage years at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and later when I moved to the United States as a young adult. Initially, I enrolled at the Moscow Conservatory with dreams of becoming a concert violinist. However, I soon realized that my true passion lay in music composition. Music would often “visit” me and practically write itself. I would often compose music to relieve very strong emotions and feelings. Unfortunately, being a woman creator wasn’t something my teachers would understand or support, so I had to conceal my dream of becoming a full-time composer. I kept composing music in secret. During my final year at the Conservatory, I decided to try my luck: I gathered my humble composition portfolio and submitted it to several universities in the United States. I was admitted to the prestigious Yale School of Music for a Master in Music Composition program on a full scholarship, marking the start of my life in the US. The first orchestral piece I wrote at Yale, “Winter Bells,” brought me a taste of large public success as a composer. Since its creation, the piece has been my “lucky ticket,” bringing multiple yearly performances by major orchestras worldwide for the last 15 years. Since my first years in the United States, I’ve been fortunate to receive commissions to write symphonic works, ballets, operas, chamber music, and art songs. I had the honor of working with orchestras such as the Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Albany Symphony, Utah Symphony, and The Russian National Orchestra, among many others.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with some of the greatest musicians and choreographers in the world, including Pascal Rioult, Yuri Possokhov, Jonah Bokaer, Morgan McEwen, and Ulyana Bochernikova. I’ve also worked closely with leading conductors like Osmo Vänskä, Teodor Currentzis, Fabio Mastrangelo, Sarah Hicks, Toshiyuki Shimada, Lawrence Loh, Hannu Lintu, Aziz Shokhakimov, and David Hattner. Each collaboration has been a unique and enriching experience, adding new dimensions to my musical journey.
One of my most exciting recent collaborations is a partnership with the groundbreaking team of Site-Specific Dances. Together with Michael Spencer Philips, Dino Kiratzitis, and Emma Kazaryan, we create immersive experiences for the audiences.
Site-Specific Dances’ creates video installations in collaboration with local dancers and artists filmed in different parts of the world, set to new original music written by living composers. Adding media to new orchestral and chamber music allows us to bring sites and dance into concert halls, suggesting a new paradigm of interdisciplinary collaboration and the potential to bring new audiences to concert music and dance.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I arrived in the United States with only $500 in my pocket and a dream of becoming a professional composer. The multicultural perspective informed my immense appreciation of diversity, tolerance, and inclusivity that, in my eyes, would define the American way. Being an immigrant, I struggled to find my footing. I had to overcome many challenges, including escaping the firm grasp of poverty, overcoming the language barriers, and settling down into a place I would call “my new home”. I was astounded by the respect I received in the US toward my Russian cultural heritage. I quickly became aware of my growing need to reciprocate in the preservation of cultural identities distinct from my own that I encountered in the US’s “melting pot”. America has one of the most diverse and complex cultural identities in the world and requires each one of us not only to contribute to this diversity but also to cherish and protect it. Speaking a different language has shaped my mentality, as there are more exceptions in Russian grammar than common rules. The verbal fluidity compels speakers of the Russian language to adopt a flexible, free-flowing approach. In addition, receiving education in two different countries – in Russia, I graduated from the Moscow Conservatory and the Yale School of Music in the US – has offered me a unique comparative advantage in the ability to synthesize elements from two very different educational systems and become a more effective educator. Whether working with students in composition class or my orchestral students, I often find myself drawing on the diversity of my educational backgrounds and experiences.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
As a woman in a male-dominated profession, I am keenly aware of gender-based disbalance within our field. As a female composer in Moscow Conservatory’s misogynistic environment, I have learned firsthand the value of equity and diversity. While I am grateful for the quality education I received there, every day felt like a struggle to prove my worthiness to be there solely because I was a woman. It was not until I enrolled in the Doctoral program at the Graduate Center CUNY that I had a female mentor, a role model, and a champion in inimitable Tania León. To see a woman of color in a male-dominated field achieve such heights of respect and success is aspirational for me personally and motivational as an educator. As a matter of representation, I believe it is a powerful encouragement for young musicians to see themselves reflected in their mentors. I strive every day to be such a figure for my students.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://polinacomposer.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polinamusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polinamusic?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/polinacomposer/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@yalostaya
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/polinamusic-1
Image Credits
Pictures by Emma Kazaryan
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