Alla Polyakova

Alla Polyakova was born in in Leningrad. She is an ethnomusicologist, a chief curator at the Mekhnetsov Center of Folklore and Ethnography of the Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, Associate Professor, Department of Ethnomusicology.

Graduated from the Folk Instruments Department of the Leningrad Regional School of Culture Studies (1992), then from the Department of Music Ethnography of the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in Saint Petersburg (1992–1997).

A. Polyakova has taken part in more than 30 folklore expeditions to Archangelsk, Vologda, Kostroma, Leningrad, Tver, Novgorod, Smolensk, Tyumen, and Kirov Regions, participated in annual expedition reports at SPSC (Expedition session report), RIAH ("Folklore Filed Season"), and MSC (Open session report on field study results).

A. Polyakova's research focuses on folk music instrument performance and forms of folk choreography. She teaches at the Department of Ethnomusicology. Her courses include "Folk Choreography", practice in "Folklore Ensemble", "Playing Practice of Russian Folk Music Instruments — Balalaika and Violin", and "Music Ethnography Practicum".

She takes an active part in concerts and rehearsals of the folklore ensemble of the SPSC. She performed with the ensemble in the Glazunov Smaller Hall of the SPSC, the Prokofiev Hall (Mariinsky–2), Glinka Academic Capella, the Rachmaninoff Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music, and other venues.