Victoria Poleva

Born on September 11, 1962, in Kyiv, Ukraine, daughter of composer Valery Polyovyj (1927–1986). Graduate of Kyiv Conservatory (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 Kyiv Conservatory. Since 2005 she has been a freelance composer. 2014, 2015 - member of the jury of the International Composers Competition "Sacrarium" (Italy)

A genre range of her compositions includes symphonic, choral, chamber music. Early works of Victoria Polyova 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 Polyova's creative work is related to intensive studies and embodiment of texts from divine services in the music.

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

In 2006 Victoria Polyova was composer-in-residence at the Menhir Chamber Music Festival (Swiss, Graubunden).

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

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

In 2012 a butoh dancer Tadashi Endo did premiere of her ballet "Gagaku".

In 2013 Kronos Quartet did premiere of V.Polyova "Walking on Waters".

In 2013 Victoria Polyova was composer-in-residence at Festival of Contemporary Music Darwin Vargas (Chile, Valparaiso)

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, Natalka Polovinka(voice), 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 for 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 Solovey, Boris Alvarado.

Victoria Polyova is a Laureate of the Municipal Prize "Kyiv" in honour of Artemy Vedel (2013), 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.

• Official site
• Page on the web-site of Ukrainian National Composers's Union
• KREMERATA BALTICA by Stanley Fefferman
• Victoria Poleva, Kiev-Ucrania (portrait)
• Interview for newspaper «Day» (2009)
• Interview for newspaper «Capital news» (2004)
• Interview for newspaper «Day» (2002)
• Виктория Полевая. «Доверься тишине... Восемь мгновений с Валентином Сильвестровым»
• Дмитрий Десятерик. «Безупречный вечер»
• Виталий Сидоркин. «Богородицу и Матерь Света в песнях возвеличим»
• from the Classical Discoveries website