Elena - Profile

Elena Polevaya began her music education on cello at the age of seven in Ukraine. After 15 years in rigorous music education system of former Soviet Union,she graduated with Double Honours Degree in Musicology and Music Education from Moscow's Gnesiny Academy of Music, concurrently with many years of training in classical singing, during which the young singer supported her living by singing in a church choir on weekends -a very much clandestine activity in the Communist era, punished by dismissal from alma mater if found out.

Elena's studies in Musicology were so appreciated by the Board that she was recommended to enter the Academy's Postgraduate program in Aesthetics. It was becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile her singing studies with the workload of a Master's degree demands, so Elena made a decision to re-join her family in the freezing city of Norilsk -just above the Arctic Circle in Eastern Siberia. Here she worked as a classroom music teacher in the Music School she attended years ago. The time for singing practice became very limited because of the arrival of her first child in 1988.
Soon after settling in Melbourne in 1992, Elena performed the role of Marcellina in Ringwood Opera Company's production of "Marriage of Figaro".Since then she has sung with the Victoria State Opera and Opera Australia for four years and performed in a number of venues, including the Convention Centre, Melba Hall, National Theatre and Hamer Hall.
In the following few years Elena appeared on Channel 7 and worked for a ballet school as a pianist. At the same time, she pursued the teaching path in cello, piano and music theory - the realms where she had been so thoroughly trained in Russia.Her ambitions to express herself perfectly in speech and on paper took her to attaining the NAATI accreditation as a Translator in Russian and English.
In 2002 Elena joined the Melbourne City Opera where she created 7 principal roles, most notably of Rosina (“The Barber of Seville”), Tosca, Mimi ("La Boheme") and Nedda ("Pagliacci") , and also enjoyed success in two modern comic operas "The Widow of Ephesus" and "The Obelisk" to the critical acclaim. She travelled to country Victoria with the company's concerts and opera performances.

With brilliant Emma Lippa - former Principal repetiteur of the Australian Ballet - Elena created a musical mono-play " The Portrait of A Singer" which she produced and performed in both Russian and English.
In 2005 Elena formed an artistic partnership with internationally acclaimed pianist and composer Phillip Gelbach. The duo made numerous appearances in concerts throughout Melbourne, recorded a CD “Pastorale” and a concert DVD with SBS producer Kostas Metaxas.

Currently Elena is working on several projects, including Bach's arias and all-Russian program of songs.
The singer's vocal style is characterised by grace, lyricism and joie de vivre. The critics and reviewers consistently describe her voice as "strong and heartfelt" and Russian compatriots have been known to weep at her performances.