Today we’d like to introduce you to Elena Kholodova
Hi Elena, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a professional pianist. I started playing piano at the age of 6 in Voronezh, Russia. None of my family members were professional musicians. But it turned out quickly that I had some talent in music and I was accepted to the Voronezh College of Music under the supervision of the Voronezh Institute of Arts at the age of 9. My piano teacher Professor Nina Filatova enrolled me in her piano class and my professional journey began. My grandmother who passed away last year at the age of 93 dedicated her life to help my journey as musician. She travelled with me to competitions, was in charge of my practicing schedule, and attended every single piano lesson, recital, jury, and master-class. I practiced every single day for 4-6 hours on the piano plus other school and music related activities. As a prodigy, I toured Great Britain when I was 13 years old with my school performing 2 recitals a day at different venues such as universities, churches, and conservatories of music. At the age of 24 I received a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy.
My journey in the USA started in 2010 when I was accepted to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music working towards my Artist Diploma in opera coaching. Little did I know that the US will become my beloved homeland and I will raise my family in Atlanta, GA.
My story as an immigrant was full of obstacles and turbulence, but after 6 years of being a Visa holder, my husband, oldest son, and I were granted permanent residency status in 2017. I was so blessed with the people who helped me on my journey, Neil Fleischer Law Firm, my opera colleagues from around the world who supported my application, my mentors, and my employers: Constella Festival, The Cincinnati Opera, and The Musical Arts Center.
I am a happy person: I have a supportive husband, 3 wonderful kids, a job that I love, and live in such a culturally vibrant city–Atlanta. I am working as an opera coach/rehearsal pianist at The Atlanta Opera, Piano Adjunct Professor at the Morehouse College, and I run a Music Studio in East Cobb. I am a proud member of the Women’s Club of Atlanta, sharing my expertise and love of the art with our community.
I am also an active recital pianist and I am so excited to invite you all to my piano recital “DREAMS. DESPAIR. WISDOM.” which will take place at St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church in Smyrna, GA on the 9th of November at 6 p.m.. I am going to be performing works by one of my favorite composer Frederic Chopin. In addition, I am preparing some special holiday surprises for you. Stay tuned on updates on my FB and Instagram pages for more details coming soon.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My biggest challenge in my musical career was to start all of my professional connections from zero after coming to the USA. After being already an established pianist, opera coach, and educator in Russia working at various universities and at the Academy of Young Singers of the Mariinsky Theater, I started as a student at the prestigious College-Conservatory of Music University of Cincinnati. All of the support from my husband, mentors, and schoolmates meant a lot to me as I was adjusting to my new lifestyle in America. But luckily in 2011 the Cincinnati Opera Summer Festival did a production of “Eugene Onegin” by P. Tchaikovsky and they were looking for a Russian diction coach/pianist. Since then, I’ve been working for my beloved Cincinnati Opera each summer season. I was also very fortunate to get engagements with the Chicago Opera Theater, Sarasota Opera, Tyrol Festival, Festival de Menton, Mikkeli Festival, The Atlanta Opera, Sewanee OperaFest, Constella Festival, and many others.
An especially challenging time for me as a mom of 3 kids and a professional pianist was the COVID-19 pandemic. But it helped me to find a new point of view on my professional and personal life. I moved to Atlanta with my family in the middle of COVID-19 and we started a new chapter here. Fortunately, The Atlanta Opera was still producing operas at an outside venue. Following the incredible vision and guidance of The Atlanta Opera General and Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, the company created a series of events called “Under the Big Tent.” It was a scary time for me as our artistic community never knew if we were going to be able to return to the previous “normal” life of the opera theater without masks, health protocols, and be able to perform in an inside venue. The Atlanta Opera Film Studio invited me to participate in a documentary called “Finding Glory Denied” made by an Emmy Award-Winning filmmaker Felipe Barral which was centered on challenges musicians were facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. You are welcome to watch it using the link below.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As an opera coach/rehearsal pianist, I am incredibly fortunate to work at such a thriving opera company as The Atlanta Opera. My job is “behind the scenes” as I play the full orchestra score under the button of the conductor while our artists/creative team are staging the production and working on music interpretation. All of the above require knowledge of foreign languages, lyric diction, orchestration, and the ability to play the score with a conductor. My incredibly talented colleagues, singers, directors, conductors, artistic managers, and set designers are all working on bringing the storytelling through art to you all. The most rewarding part of my job is to see the final product of our collaborations in the theater during the run of the show and to hear your applause. You are all invited to the absolutely incredible “La Bohéme” with a modern twist and the Broadway hit “Rent” co-directed by Tomer Zvulun and Vita Tzykun, where you can enjoy brilliant music with two vibrant casts in an audience immersive setting at Pullman Yards. The shows run from September the 18th through October the 6th.
I also work with emerging artists at the Glynn Studio Artists Program of The Atlanta Opera. I am thrilled to share my expertise with emerging artists who are about to conquer the best opera stages of the US.
Sewanee OperaFest has a special place in my heart as every July I teach young singers at the most beautiful campus of the University of the South along with my incredible colleagues Laura Brook Rice, Jennifer Szeto, Nate Ben-Horin, Jordan Schreiner, Dugg McDonough, William Woodard, and many others. Nearly every morning before a long day of teaching, I wake up early to hike on the vast nature trails of Tennessee with an amazing 7 a.m. hiking group.
Another passion of mine is teaching piano. The students at Morehouse College are a really vibrant community of people who are striving for excellence. I am so privileged to teach piano courses along with applied piano lessons at this great institution. I feel satisfied when I pass my skills to future generations of students.
As a music educator, running a Music Studio in East Cobb, I am aware that it is very unlikely that my piano students will choose the path of becoming a professional musician, but it is important for them to enjoy playing piano, be fluent in reading music, and understanding the style of the piece they are working on. As a mom of 3 kids I encourage music education as they are all taking lessons in clarinet, trumpet, violin, and piano. For example, this past summer my oldest son marched trumpet in one of 22 World Class Drum Corps named the Madison Scouts. I realized that the most important skill to get when you are a child is to learn the ability to conquer challenges, express your emotions through music or any art other art, and to fully engage your imagination. In May of 2024, my students performed the play “Peter and the Wolf” based on the symphonic tale by S.Prokofiev. As an opera coach, I combined theatrical storytelling with piano performance to create a vibrant play/recital where students are not only pianists but actors, set designers, and stage managers. We had a stage set created in collaboration with my piano students and the wonderful Atlanta based artist Dima Alexeyev.
As an artist and educator, I greatly encourage you to visit and support the vast amount of art organizations such as The Atlanta Opera, The Atlanta Symphony, Atlanta Ballet, and the High Museum of Art just to name a few. I believe that it is greatly important to be well educated in art and music in order to succeed in any other field.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Finding a mentor is a mutual process as not only you are looking for a mentor, but a mentor is looking for you. You need to pursue excellence in your field to be recognized by others. To attract people on your journey you have to maintain a light of happiness inside of you when you are performing your job as well as showing your ambitions to get better at your craft. I treasure the joy of making art and I still spend at least 2 hours every day practicing piano. It is crucial to not fear rejection. To stay positive, it is important to think of the analogy, “if one door closes, another one will open.” I was extremely lucky to meet my beloved piano teacher Nina Filatova, opera coaches Susanna Lemberskaya, Larissa Gergieva, Nina Klenova, and Irina Orlova, my collaborative piano Professor Victor Semenov, my professors from CCM Marie-France Lefebvre, Kenneth Griffith, Robin Guarino, Terry Lusk, Sylvia Plyler, and many others that were very supportive and helped me to become who I am now.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://elenakholodova.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elenaoperacoach?igsh=dGYyZ3c4cHUza2Rs&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063558041986
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QObRbjfJo7w
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2bUgmU3BIdcsPNaWOCh4sS?si=YLYhGam0R5mUSHyTMStQjg
- Other: https://vimeo.com/853067420
Image Credits
Photo #1 Photo by Felipe Barral and The Atlanta Opera Studio
Photo #3 Photo by Julius Ahn
Photo #5: Photo by Andrey Podgorodetskiy
Personal and Photo #8: Photos by Jennifer Szeto
Vimeo Link : The Atlanta Opera Film Studio (IMPORTANT to insert movie link as it was referred to in the interview)
