The Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory named after M. I. Glinka is a Russian higher music education institution founded in 1946 and located in Nizhny Novgorod at Piskunova Street. It is one of the leading centers of musical culture in Russia and the largest music education institution in the Volga Federal District.[4]

History

The conservatory was founded in 1946; until 1990 it was known as the Gorky State Conservatory. Its first faculty members were graduates of the Moscow and Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) conservatories: I. V. Sposobin, A. P. Stogorsky, B. S. Veprinský, Alexander Alexandrovich Kasyanov, N. N. Poluektova, S. L. Lazerson, G. R. Ginzburg, Ya. V. Flier, Ya. I. Zak, I. B. Gusman, and others. The first rector was A. A. Kogan.[4]

From 1950 to 1972 the conservatory was headed by pianist and musicologist G. S. Dombaev, under whose leadership the institution rose to become one of the country's leading music schools. In 1957 the conservatory was named after M. I. Glinka. In 1960 the German firm Alexander Schuke installed an organ in the Grand Concert Hall; the organ class was headed by Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Professor G. I. Kozlova. In 1962 the conservatory became a participant in contemporary music festivals, including a monographic festival devoted to the work of D. D. Shostakovich (1964). In 1965 a postgraduate education system was established. During the 1970s, works by Schnittke, sacred music by Rachmaninov, Chesnokov, and Kastalsky, as well as compositions by contemporary Western composers were performed for the first time in the USSR in the Grand Concert Hall.[4]

From 1972 to 1993 the rector was composer, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, and Professor A. A. Nesterov. In 1994 conductor and Professor L. K. Sivukhin was elected rector. From 1996 to 2017 the conservatory was headed by Professor E. B. Fertelmeister, who subsequently became its president. The rector at the time of the last update is Yury Gurevich.[4]

The conservatory building is a federally protected cultural heritage site (reg. no. 521410082490006).[4]

Academic and Concert Activities

The conservatory offers bachelor's, specialist, master's, postgraduate, and doctoral programs and has a dissertation council.[4] The full-time program also admits mature students: according to available information, some students have enrolled at around the age of 40.[3]

Nizhny Novgorod musicians have pursued postgraduate study at the conservatory; in particular, conductor Renat Zhiganshin studied here under Professor and People's Artist of the Russian Federation Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Skulsky, after which he became conductor of the Philharmonic in 2004, and from 17 October 2012 served as artistic director of the Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after A. S. Pushkin.[2]

Notable Alumni

In 1978 Sergey Aleksandrovich Gorin (born 26 May 1952) graduated from the Gorky State Conservatory named after Glinka with a specialization in bayan. Before entering the conservatory he had graduated from the Gorky Music College (1971), worked as a teacher at a music school and music college, and was repeatedly elected chairman of the joint trade union committee of music and art school employees in the city of Gorky. From 2002 Gorin served as director of the Department of Culture of the Nizhny Novgorod city administration, and in 2005 he was awarded the title of Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation.[1]

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (ru) — Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory named after M. I. Glinka (archive)
  2. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — "Now 'very mature' models are on trend": a Nizhny Novgorod woman walked the runway after 40 years (archive)
  3. V gorode N — The Nizhny Novgorod Opera Theatre has announced the name of the new artistic director (archive)
  4. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Sergey Gorin: "The main skill of a man (archive)