Bio

read in russian…

 
«At the Queen Elizabeth Hall, I found myself listening open-mouthed to a Russian woman playing the piano accordion while making wordless vocal sounds into a microphone. Her name was Evelina Petrova and the sounds varied from whoops and bird-like twitterings to a kind of demented lamentation. God knows what it was all about, but it had me transfixed..»
Dave Gelly,
THE GUARDIAN

Evelina Petrova was born in an industrial city close to St. Petersburg.  It was actually her grand mother who forced Evelina to study music in a local music school where she took up accordion at the age of twelve. Later on she continued her studies in St. Petersburg and graduated from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory in 2002.  Much later she attended master course at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo (department of jazz and improvise music). From 2012 Evelina lives in Norway.

From the late 1990s she has performed a lot with her former teacher from St. Petersburg Theatre and Music Academy, trumpeter Vyacheslav Gayvoronsky. The duo has made two CDs and concerts throughout Europe and for example a 12-concert tour in Japan back in 2001. In 1998 the duo got a special prize for original music in an international competition devoted to Astor Piazzolla in Italy. The following year the Russian jazz critics announced Petrova as the Star of the Year.

The concerts based Evelina Petrova are true heartwarming experiences. This lady blends Russian folk music, classical and quite avant-garde improvised music in her playing. There are also elements of Jewish Kletzmer tradition and East-European brass music in it. There’s such a big amount of power, primitive drive and creativity in her concerts that it is hard to believe that all that music comes from one woman and accordion only.

Petrova utilizes in a great manner the possibilities of both her own voice and accordion, and, at the same time breaks the limits of the traditional expression of both. The accordion in her hands is sometimes a percussion instrument; sometimes one can hear pure, technically excellent accordion music. Her voice is her second instrument: she screams laughs, wails, growls, barks, huffs and puffs. Although she performs in a sitting position, her performance is also kind of a dance.

She swings and sways, and the accordion hops and leaps in her hands. It’s almost a shamanistic ritual which sends shivers down your spine.

Furthermore Petrova also has a repertoire of the history of tango reaching from the traditionalists Malando and Karlos Gardel through Italian movie tangos up to modern Astor Piazzolla works and new St. Petersburg style Viktor Sobolenko tangos.

During the many years Petrova has made performances in France, Canada, Belgium, Slovenia, Finland, Norway… and has performed in many renowned clubs and festivals.

Education:

2012-2014 Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo (master of performance,

Department of Improvised Music, Jazz and Folk Music)

1997-2002   St. Petersburg State Conservatory, classical accordionist degree

1994-1997  St. Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy, Experimental course «Theatre of Music Improvisations»

1990-1994 Mussorgsky’s College of Music, St. Petersburg, Russia

1985 – 1990 Primary music school in Kingisepp, Russia

Programs and competitions:

2014, Utrecht: Erasmus International Programme “European International Futures”

1999, by vote of Russian music critics was awarded the title of the «Star of the Year»

1998, at the Firth International Astor Piazzolla Competition in Italy (Castelfidardo),   the duet Evelina Petrova-Slava Gayvoronsky was awarded the special prize for original music style.

Projects, collaborations:

—        SOLO

—        Oslo Art Trio, with Misha Alperin (piano, Norway) and Roberto Dani (percussion, Italy)

—        Project with actress Thea Elisabeth Skallevold and Tour Organisation in Hedmark, fairy-tale “Two sisters and twelve mounts”

—        “Paradjanov project” Music and Video, with TRIO: Andreas Rotevatn –trombone, electronic; Laura Ellestad –hardangerfele

—   “Prayers and Meditations” with Misha Alperin, Oslo Chamber Choir and soloists

—        Dance performance «SOMMERFUGLEN» with choreographer Sølvi Edvardsen and dancer Miriam Hansen Troøyen, produced by Akerhus theater

—        Project with Viktor Sobolenko(cello, Russia) “The Northern Tango”

—        Performance “Timing of butterfly” with Tanya Khabarova (theater DEREVO), music recorded «Living water» Leo Records 2009

—        Collaboration projects by SOUNDUK (England):

—        1.«Ties»  with Alexander Balanescu, aerialist Gisele Edwards and director Emma Bernard (UK)

—        2.“The Others” with Alexander Balanescu and Miniature Musical Circus (London)

—        Live performances with black-white masterpieces: “Faust” by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, 1926, Germany; “The Unknown” Director Tod Browning, 1927, USA; short animation films by Lotte Rainiger.

—        Collaborates with Fashion House  “Lilia Kisselenko” (St.Petersburg)  as a composer and DJ

—        Collaborations with other artists—Jethro Tull, Iva Bittova, Phil Milton, Balanescu String Quartet, Misha Alperin, Bert Van Laethem, Marianne Halmrast, Slava Gayvoronsky, Vladimir Volkov, Stefano Battaglia, Miniature Musical Circus, theater “ DEREVO”, Håkon Aase (violin),  Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard (double bass), film directors from Russia Alexander Sokurov and Svetlana Proskurina.

Discography:

«Mirrors» Oslo Art Trio, 2016

“Prayers and Meditations” with Oslo Kammer Kor, Jaro Records 2015

“Living water”  Leo Records 2009

“Upside down”  Leo Records 2007

«Year’s cycle»  Leo Records 2004

“The northern tango”  St. Petersburg 2002

“Homeless songs”  Solyd Records 2001

«Chonyi Together»  Leo Records  1999

«Postfactum»  Solyd Records 1999




Evelina Petrova and Roberto Dani
Part of the project "Mirrors. Dedication to Andrey Tarkovsky"
Fornacepasquinuci gallery, Italy 2014



Two fragments
(Lullaby, Round-Dance)



Evelina Petrova and Alexander Balanesku. Video from Ethnomechanica world music festival 2009 in Saint-Petersburg.

Previous concerts

© 2012—2020 Evelina Petrova