“Symphony for Strings” (2024) by Polina Nazaykinskaya 
Commissioned by Portland Youth Philharmonic 
Recorded by OpensoundOrchestra:
Violins: Stanislav Malyshev, Maria Fomichenko, Iskander Akhmedov, Inna Zilberman, Irina Chepizhnaya
Violas: Ksenia Zhuleva, Ekaterina Myasnikova
Cellos: Olga Kalinova, Rostislav Chuchalin
Bass: Alexander Pavlov 
Audio engineer Ilya Karpov

Symphony for Strings

The music of an award-winning composer Polina Nazaykinskaya, is performed regularly in the United States, Russia, and Europe. Her first symphonic poem, "Winter Bells," is in high demand every season by orchestras such as the Minnesota Orchestra and the Russian National Orchestra, among others. 

In the 2024-2025 concert season, Polina's orchestral music will be performed by the Utah Symphony, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, The Syracuse Orchestra, and the Atlanta Symphony. In May 2025, Polina’s new ballet for MorDance will be premiered in New York. In May 2025, Polina’s chamber opera, "Her New Home" will performed at the Garth Newel Center. Recent concert seasons highlights included the premiere of two new ballets, "The Rising" and "Emily," performed by the San Francisco Ballet and MorDance in New York City. 

Polina's collaborators include internationally renowned choreographers Pascal Rioult, Yuri Possokhov, Jonah Bokaer, Morgan McEwen, and Ulyana Bochernikova. Polina works closely with the world's leading conductors, such as Osmo Vänskä, Teodor Currentzis, Aziz Shokhakimov, Sarah Hicks, Toshiyuki Shimada, Lawrence Loh, Hannu Lintu and David Hattner. Polina's compositions are actively performed by internationally acclaimed soloists such as trombonist R. Douglas Wright, violinist Elena Korzhenevich, and pianist Anton Nel. 

With her larger chamber music works, Polina frequently turns to the tragedy of humanity's collective history, in particular, the Holocaust. Her work "Haim" is performed annually around the world and has become an important ensemble composition of the second decade of the 21st century.

Between 2021 and 2024, Polina was the Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor of the Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras. Before her work with the GCTYO, she led the British Youth Music Theatre, RIOULT Dance NY, the University of Southern Mississippi Orchestra, and the Russian Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Over the past decade, Polina formed a creative alliance with an award-winning pianist and librettist, Konstantin Soukhovetski, with whom they have premiered many works of diverse genres, from solo piano to ballets. Currently, they are working on an opera commissioned by Opera Mississippi to commemorate the company's 75th anniversary and to be premiered in 2026. 

Polina's musical language embodies the diversity of multicultural education. She graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory College in Moscow as a double major in composition/violin, studying with Konstantin Batashov and Vladimir Ivanov. Polina earned her Master' and Artist's Diploma in composition at the Yale School of Music with Christopher Theofanidis and Ezra Laderman. Currently, Polina is a Doctorate Candidate at The Graduate Center CUNY under the mentorship of Tania León. 

Many of Polina's honors and awards include the Charles Ives Scholarship from The American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

Polina is an Adjunct Lecturer of Composition at Brooklyn College Conservatory and a Teaching Artist at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven.
Polina’s collaborators include internationally renowned choreographers Pascal Rioult, Jonah Bokaer, and Ulyana Bochernikova. Polina works closely with the world’s leading conductors, such as Osmo Vänskä, Teodor Currentzis, Fabio Mastrangelo, Sarah Hicks, Toshiyuki Shimada, Lawrence Loh, and Hannu Lintu. Polina’s compositions are actively performed by internationally acclaimed soloists such as trombonist R. Douglas Wright, violinist Elena Korzhenevich, and pianist Olga Kirpicheva. 

With her larger chamber music works, Polina frequently turns to the tragedy of humanity’s collective history, in particular the Holocaust. Her work “Haim”, is performed annually around the world and has become an important ensemble composition of the second decade of the 21st century.
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Starting Fall 2021 Polina is named the Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor of the GCTYO. Prior to her current position, she has led The British Youth Music Theatre, RIOULT Dance NY, The University of Southern Mississippi Orchestra, and The Russian Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Over the past decade, Polina formed a creative alliance with an award-winning pianist and librettist Konstantin Soukhovetski, with whom they have premiered many works of diverse genres, from solo piano to ballets. Currently, they are working on an opera, commissioned by Opera Mississippi to commemorate the company’s 75th anniversary and to be premiered in 2023. 

Polina’s unique musical language embodies the diversity of multi-cultural education. She graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory College in Moscow as a composition/violin double major, studying with Konstantin Batashov and Vladimir Ivanov, respectively. Polina earned her Masters' and Artist Diploma in composition at the Yale School of Music with Christopher Theofanidis and Ezra Laderman. Currently, Polina is a Doctorate Candidate at The Graduate Center CUNY under the mentorship of Tania León. Many of Polina’s honors and awards include Charles Ives Scholarship from The American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

Polina is an Adjunct Lecturer of Composition at Brooklyn College Conservatory and a Teaching Artist at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven.

Matthew Jackfert (b. 1988), son of Jennifer Jackfert and the late Dr. Kent Jackfert, is a native of Charleston, WV. Jackfert holds undergraduate degrees of composition and Chinese studies from West Virginia University and his Masters in composition from the University of Texas in Austin. 

Currently, Jackfert works as a freelance composer as well as a composer and radio host with West Virginia Public Broadcasting.  
Jackfert’s “On the Shores of Qingdao” was a finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Awards. Also, his music has been featured on the national radio program “Performance Today” several times and has been featured on NPR's Morning Edition. Jackfert has been played by top orchestras like the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and more.

Composer of contemporary classical music. Toronto.