CONCERT BY CANDELIGHT | ELENA ŻUKOVA

Ukrainian pianist and harpsichordist, Associate Professor of Chamber Ensemble at the National Music Academy of Ukraine and lecturer at Lysenko Special Musical School and Glier Music Institute in Kyiv, where she founded the harpsichord class.

She studied piano and harpsichord with Professors Svitlana Shabaltina and Valeriy Kozlov and participated in masterclasses with renowned musicians including Philippe Entremont, Pierre Hantaï, Ketil Haugsand, Władysław Kłosiewicz, Marek Toporowski, Elżbieta Stefańska and Aline Zylberajch.

Olena Zhukova has performed extensively as a soloist, accompanist and chamber musician on piano and harpsichord, as well as an organist. She has collaborated with leading Ukrainian ensembles and orchestras and performed with soloists including Olga Bezsmertna of the Vienna State Opera and Eleonora Vindau of the Mariinsky Theatre. She has also participated in numerous opera productions and early-music projects, including performances of works by J. S. Bach, Gluck, Purcell, Donizetti and Menotti.

From 2001 to 2011, she worked as an accompanist for the Opera Staging Department and performed with ensembles including Kyiv Baroque Ensemble, Offertorium, Ars Amarilli, Secundum Artem and Lege Artis. She has also worked as an early-music expert for Radio Aristocrats, creating educational projects combining live music, visual art and lectures.

Her competition achievements include First Prize at the International Competition “21st Century Art” (2003), First Prize and Audience Prize at the International Competition “Three Centuries of Classical Romance” (2008), and major awards at the Wanda Landowska Harpsichord Competition in Bari (2014), including the Absolute First Prize in the Bach Concerto for Harpsichord with Orchestra category. She has also received prizes at international competitions in Rome, Serbia, Lovere and Gioia del Colle.

She has participated in major early-music festivals and summer schools, including Cembalissimo in Budapest, Montisi Summer School, Dartington Summer School, Olavsfestdagene, Festival Zeist Music Days and the Fringe Oude Muziek Utrecht.