Born in Togliatti, Russia, Polina Nazaykinskaya has been studying music since the age of four, and composed her first large-scale work at 14. She went on to create music for both chamber and full orchestras, as well as art songs, film music, musical theater works, an opera, and, recently, her first symphony “April Song”. In June 2018, The RIOULT Dance NY premiered Polina’s first ballet, Nostalghia. The premiere took place at The Joyce Theater in New York City. This season The Albany Symphony premiered Polina’s new symphonic poem “Fenix”.
Polina has received many national and international awards, including the Charles Ives Scholarship from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship. Polina’s music has been performed and recorded by the Russian National Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Yale Philharmonia Orchestra, the US Army Orchestra among others. Polina has collaborated with top conductors, including Osmo Vänskä, Teodor Currentzis, Fabio Mastrangelo, and Hannu Lintu.
Polina has received a music education both in Russia and the United States. She graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory College in Moscow, with concentrations in both composition and violin. Polina then continued her studies of composition at the Yale School of Music with Christopher Theofanidis and Ezra Laderman. Polina is a Teaching Artist at the New York Philharmonic Composers Bridge Program and an Adjunct Lecturer of Composition at Brooklyn College Conservatory.