Elena Rykova

Elena Rykova (1991, RU) is a composer, performance artist, and improvisator. She studied composition, piano, and conducting at Ufa's Special Music College. Proceeding this, Rykova joined the Moscow State Conservatory as a composer under Professor Yuri Kasparov (2010-2015), a Masters in composition with Professor Johannes Schöllhorn in Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, and, since 2016, is undertaking a PhD at Harvard University, studying instrumental composition with Professor Chaya Czernowin, and electroacoustic composition with Professor Hans Tutschku. Her work as a composer is experimental in nature, often situating itself in the overlaps between music and art. Rykova is the winner of international competitions, such as the Frederic Mompou International Award of the 36th Young composer competition for saxophone quartets in Barcelona, Spain (2015). She was Nominee of Gaudeamus Prize 2013 (The Netherlands). Rykova was chosen to present Russia during ISCM-World Music Days 2016 in Tongyeong, South Korea, and invited to participate in ECLAT festival 2016 in Stuttgart with the musical performance The Mirror of Galadriel, her musical performance which landed her finalist status for Russia's renowned Kandinsky Prize in 2014.