Folk Bands and Artists
Polina Shepherd
Brighton
https://www.polinashepherd.co.uk
Polina Shepherd was raised in a Cossack / Jewish family in Novosibirsk. She grew up with singing at family gatherings where she accompanied her grandfather, a WWII veteran and her whole Cossack /Jewish family from the age of 10. When living in Tatarstan and studying at the State Academy in the 1990s, she toured USSR with Simkha, Russia′s first klezmer band after Perestroika. By her early twenties she was a Yiddish choir leader, composer, bandleader, singer, an international touring musician, educator and festival organiser.
In 2003 Polina moved to the UK where she carried on performing, composing music, researching her heritage and neighbouring singing styles. Her choral work in the UK and abroad covers many aspects of vocal music from large scale choirs to smaller chamber groups, from highly arranged and conducted pieces to on spot choral improvisation. Her specially developed teaching and conducting methods are based on specific East European sound, ornamentation, modal experimentation with attention to history and context.
Her recent work as a singer included touring with Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland (OH, USA) Grammy-winning baroque orchestra and ´Folk-Cabaret´ The Stranniki (UK-USA). In cinema, she recorded for The Windermere Children and appears conducting and soloing in TV series The Crown. In theatre, most recently she´s been Music Adviser and recorded for National Theatre co-production of Kin by Amit Lahav. Polina´s choral work has been published internationally, most recently in Edition Peters Yiddish Choral Series. Music Director of Caravan Orchestra and Choir, an international project for young musicians with classical, jazz and Arab music backgrounds.
Now, with over 30 years of professional experience, she continues to be an international culture maker, striving to connect communities through music all around our global village.
´Polina is a brilliant and talented teacher and coach... We all learned and sang with new freedom; we were encouraged to create harmonies, and together made music that I suspect was only possible due to Polina.”
Carol D, residential workshop participant
“Most enthusiastic and inspiring. Also extremely knowledgeable – not only about music. A great introduction to Slavic culture…”
BW, workshop participant
”Polina´s an expert and experienced choir leader and her enthusiasm for choral singing is infectious.”
NK, workshop participant
“Wonderful music from some very unique genres, much of which has been new to me. Polina’s style of teaching and selection of music have provided an amazing opportunity to listen and learn from an incredibly talented musician.”
NT, online workshop participant
Genre: Balkan,Gypsy jazz,Klezmer,World
