Galina Elshaeva –
Organist / Carillonist
Helsinki, St. Petersburg
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Audience Feedback
The organ, of course, is a fantastic instrument… A gothic church, with the sense of a cosmic abyss all around…
A great concert by Galina Elshaeva at Toksovo Church!
Anna Pozdnyakova (Organ concert at the Lutheran Church in Toksovo, 16.10.21)
The concert was great, and the weather made the performance even more illustrious. Thank you so much!
Larisa Yushkina (Organ concert in Toksovo, 16.10.21)
The clarity of sound throughout the recital today was wonderful! And such beautiful sonorities in the first part of the concert! The Canzone was so exciting. Bravo to the carillon and to you! BRAVO! BRAVO!”
Ulyana Markarova (Carillon Concert at the Peter and Paul Fortress, 28.02.21)
Thank you dear Galina Elshaeva for your charm and for your talent in interpreting this organ recital of Western European composers from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Jean-Marie Clement (Organ concert in Chaource, France, 28.07.19)
Thank you for a simply amazing concert!!!! The sound you produced was really something! As many times as I’ve been to concerts at this church, I’ve never heard anything like it… And I caught myself thinking how “real” it sounded.
Polina Volynets (Organ concert in Zelenogorsk (Transfiguration Church), 20.07.19))
Galina Elshaeva:
organist, carillonist
A concert musician who performs organ and carillon music in various halls and cathedrals in Russia and Western Europe.
Galina studied organ in the class of the renowned St. Petersburg organist Grigory Varshavsky. In 2008, she obtained her Master of Arts degree from St. Petersburg State University at the Faculty of Arts (Department of Historical Performance on Keyboard Musical Instruments, Department of Organ, Harpsichord and Carillon). She studied the carillon under the guidance of Professor Joseph Willem Haazen, director of the Jef Denein Royal School in Mechelen (Belgium).
In 2005, she interned in organ with professors J.Trummer and G.Rost at the University of Church and Organ Music in Graz (Austria).
Galina perfected her skills at various master classes and organ academies in Western Europe with leading professors: J. Trummer, G.Rost, W.Zerer, A. Gast, L. Lohmann, J. Laukvik, Pieter van Dijk, etc.
Galina is an active concert performer in St. Petersburg, takes part in organ festivals both in Russia and in Western Europe – in France, the Netherlands, and Germany, and is also a regular participant in international carillon festivals in Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, France, and USA.
Galina devotes a great deal of her time in creating transcriptions and arrangements for organ and carillon, striving to make this music vivid and accessible to a wide and diverse audience.
Currently, she is the titular organist of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Mikhail in St. Petersburg.
Organ Repertoire
Galina’s organ repertoire includes works from different eras: from Baroque to the present. These are compositions for solo organ, as well as many vocal and chamber instrumental compositions for different soloists (for example, in her repertoire there are arias from Bach cantatas with an obligato instrument, spiritual cantatas by Handel and Buxtehude, “German Arias” by Handel, Ave Maria of various styles, instrumental sonatas, etc)
A special place in her concert programmes is occupied by the music of the German and French Baroque. Germany is represented by such composers J.S. Bach, D. Buxtehude, G. Bohm, J. Pachelbel, G. Muffat, J. Froberger, while from France: L. Marchand, N. Clerambault, K. Balbastre, F. Couperin, J. Boyvin, L.C. d’Aquin… French and German romantic music is represented by J. Rheinberger, J. Brahms, G. Merkel, C. Franck, L. Boëllmann and other composers.
Carillon Repertoire
Galina’s carillon repertoire is very diverse and includes both original compositions for the carillon and arrangements of works of various eras and styles.
Thus, her repertoire includes works by Baroque composers (Matthias Van den Gein, J. S. Bach, G.F. Handel, H.I.F. von Biber, J. Boutmy, J.F. Rameau,
L.C. d’Aquin, H. Purcell, W. de Fesch), works by famous Western European composers of subsequent eras (W. A. Mozart, R. Schumann, F. Chopin), Russian classical music (P. I. Tchaikovsky, A. Borodin, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, S. V. Rachmaninoff, M.P. Mussorgsky, A.Alyabyev), folk music (Russian and Flemish folk songs and dances), as well as music by contemporary composers working in popular genres (M.Tariverdiev, V. Vavilov, A. Alexey Arkhipovsky, R. Ferrao, M. Legrand, N.Rota, songs of “The Beatles”.
The carillonist has a special place in her repertoire to the music of composers from Belgium and the Netherlands of the 20th century and our contemporaries. Galina includes in her concert programmes works by such composers as Jef Denyn, Flor Peeters, Geo Clement , Staf Nees, Jef Rottiers, Kristiaan van Ingelgem (b. 1944), Geert D`Hollander (b. 1965).
Galina creates most of the arrangements herself, adapting the sound of popular and beloved works for the carillon.