Galina Grigorjeva – Estonian Composers Union

Composer, ECU member since 1994
Born on 02.12.1962

The output of Galina Grigorjeva has deserved appreciation for its remarkably subtle and animated melodic style. Her music is tightly linked to Slavonic sacred music as well as early European polyphony. Grigorjeva “orchestrates” polyphony with remarkable skill and grace, creating meaningful and beautiful harmonic flickers amidst the fluid texture. She pays utmost attention to the expressiveness and significance of each interval and intonation. There is a lot of air and space for breathing in her music.

Born in Crimea, Ukraine, Galina Grigorjeva studied at the Simferopol Music School and Odessa Conservatoire. In 1991, she graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatoire under Prof. Yuri Falik and was engaged in postgraduate studies with Lepo Sumera at the Estonian Academy of Music 1994–1998. Galina Grigorjeva is appointed Composer-in-Residence at the NYYD Ensemble for the season 2006/2007. Now she works as a freelance composer.

Music of Galina Grigorjeva has been performed in Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Germany, France, USA etc. Grigorjeva’s works have been performed by Hortus Musicus (artistic director Andres Mustonen), Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (conductor Paul Hillier), Moscow Chamber Orchestra (conductor Constantine Orbelian), Kremerata Baltica (artistic director Gidon Kremer), Moscow Patriarchate Choir (conductor Anatoly Grindenko), State Choir Latvija, percussion ensemble Kroumata (Sweden), Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, recorder player Conrad Steinmann (Switzerland), clarinettist Michel Lethiec (France) etc. Music of Galina Grigorjeva has been performed at several festivals, including From Avant-Garde to the Present Day (St. Petersburg, 1996), Two Days and Two Nights (Ukraine, 2001 and 2003), December Nights (Moscow, 2002), Naantali Music Festival (Finland), Lockenhaus Festival (Austria, 2003), Festival Pablo Casals in Prades (France, 2004) etc.
The Estonian Radio has twice chosen Grigorjeva’s work to represent Estonia at the International Rostrum of Composers: On Leaving in 2000, in Amsterdam, and Lament in 2002, in Paris.

Galina Grigorjeva was awarded The Heino Eller Music Prize in 2003 and the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Music of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia in 2004 and 2013. In 2014, Grigorjeva was ascribed the The Order of the White Star Fourth Class. Grigorjeva’s author CD “In Paradisum” was awarded the Estonian Music Prize in the category of Classical album in 2015.

Her works have been published by Theatre of Voices Edition.