Life in Ukraine
My life in Ukraine
1984 - 2012
My name is Nadya Poklad.
I was born on January 27, 1984, in Luhansk, a city in the eastern part of Ukraine (Donbas). My musical journey began at the age of five, and by six, I was already composing, certain that music was my true calling.
The foundation of my professional music education was laid at a specialized music school, where I completed a seven-year program and graduated with a diploma in piano performance. My studies encompassed piano, solfeggio, music literature, choral singing, and ensemble performance.
At the age of 12, I began private composition lessons with Anna Kovaleva, a renowned Ukrainian composer and a member of the Ukrainian Union of Composers. A year later, I had the privilege of presenting my works to the distinguished Ukrainian composer Lev Kolodub during his visit to Luhansk for a concert. His encouragement and positive feedback led to an invitation to study composition under his guidance in Kyiv. However, due to family circumstances, I remained in Luhansk and continued my education there.
In 2000, I enrolled in the Theoretical Department of the Luhansk College of Culture and Arts, where I graduated with honors in 2004, earning a junior specialist diploma in Music Theory Education. During my college years, I actively participated in regional, national, and international composition competitions. I also contributed to regional and national conferences on pedagogy and musicology. In 2003, I was honored to serve as a jury member for the college’s young composers’ competition. Beyond my musical pursuits, I explored journalism as a reporter for the college newspaper.
Awards & Achievements
2003 – Participant in the 5th National Scientific and Practical Student Conference “Young Musicologists of Ukraine.”
Higher Education
July 2009 – June 2010: Luhansk State Institute of Culture and Arts, Faculty of Music Arts – Master’s Degree in Composition and Teaching.
During my time at the institute, I actively participated in student conferences on sociology, philosophy, and culture. I also honed my skills as a teacher of theoretical disciplines, contributing to annual pedagogical conferences, developing educational programs, and presenting specialized lectures on music literature at national symposiums and conferences for educators across Ukraine.
Throughout my college and institute years, I studied composition under Sergey Turneev, a renowned Ukrainian composer, professor, and dean of the theoretical department. A distinguished member of the Union of Composers of Ukraine and a native of Luhansk, Turneev played a significant role in shaping both my artistic and academic growth.
The next stage of my education took place from October 2010 to 2015, when I pursued a Ph.D. at the Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music in Kyiv. My research, conducted within the Department of Ukrainian Music History and Musical Folklore, was deeply connected to my hometown of Luhansk, focusing on prominent contemporary Ukrainian composers from the region.
The uniqueness of my dissertation lay in the fact that no prior studies had been conducted on this topic. I gathered original materials, conducted personal interviews, and copied manuscript compositions from various composers. This newly collected material not only enriched the broader database of Ukrainian professional music but also became an important contribution to regional music studies. Throughout my research, all my publications and articles closely aligned with my dissertation topic, further solidifying its academic significance.
Selected Publications:
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (Approved by the Supreme Academic Commission of Ukraine)
“The Problem of Integrity in Musical Composition: The Case of Hanna Kovaleva’s Quartet” – Strategy for the Development of Contemporary Art (2010)
“The Interaction Between Composer and Performer in the Chamber Works of S. Turneev” – Ukrainian Musicology (2011)
“The Creative Individuality of Hanna Kovaleva” – Problems of Contemporary Art, Culture, and Pedagogy (Luhansk, Ukraine, 2012)
“The Works of Young Composers of Luhansk: A Case Study of the Vocal Symphony ‘Pacification’ by Kateryna Karpenko” – Nauka i Utworzenie XXI Stulecia: Teoria, Praktyka, Innowacja (Opole, Poland, 2013)
“Genesis and Semantics of Musical Expressiveness in the Vocal Work ‘Cold Morning’ by Anna Kovaleva” – European Journal of Arts (Vienna, Austria, 2015)
In the summer of 2016, through a competitive selection process, I was chosen to participate in international composition courses in Poland for postgraduate studies. The training program included both group and individual composition lessons with distinguished composers such as Mark Andre (France), Zigmund Krauze (Poland), Martin Bresnick (USA), and Johannes Kreidler (Germany). The culmination of this training was the composition of a piece performed at the final concert.
Teaching Experience
I began my teaching journey in my hometown, Luhansk, Ukraine, where I worked for nearly five years as a teacher of music theory and composition. My professional growth was centered on expanding and enriching music education.
I developed curricula for History of Music and Music Appreciation courses, aiming to inspire students with a deeper understanding of musical heritage. Beyond the classroom, I actively organized student concerts and special guest events, including meetings with Japanese photographer Takashi Itozawa and German visual artist Andres Verten, fostering interdisciplinary artistic dialogue.
Additionally, I taught a History of Painting course for art students, intertwining music with visual arts. My responsibilities also included planning, preparing, and delivering music theory lessons, as well as developing and presenting engaging lectures for classical and jazz concerts.
Active Composer
During my study in College and University I was taking a part in various regional, national and international competitions among young composers with awards (I have all my awards and certificates of participation in competitions).
My awards:
- 2000 – I prize in city contest in composition.
- 2001 г. – II prize in the I International Festival of Academic Art «Vivat Musika» (Novaja Kakhovka, Ukraine).
- 2001 г. – Participation in the concert “Music of Young Composers”, within the frames of the 12th international festival «Kyiv Music Fest» (Kyiv, Ukraine).
- 2003 г. – The III prize in the IV festival of young composers in Poltava, Ukraine.
In 2007 I introduced my compositions of chamber music to the rector of Brussels Royal Conservatory Rafael Dan and Belgium delegation during their visit of the Institute. It was the starting point of my creative collaboration with the outstanding clarinetist, professor of Brussels Royal Conservatory Hedwig Swimberghe. As a result of this collaboration my music has been performed not only in Ukraine but also in other countries, such as Belgium, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Germany and Poland.
My compositions are performed by students of Brussels Conservatory, Lugansk University of Arts, Institute of Culture and Arts and students of music schools in Lugansk.
Since 2007, I have been actively collaborating with clarinetist and professor at the Brussels Conservatory, Hedwig Swimberghe. I have composed numerous pieces that have become a significant part of his repertoire, and he has performed my compositions at various international music festivals in different countries.
In 2009 I won the III prize in the international contest of composers “Penta Ton” (Nikolaev, Ukraine). During the discussion my vocal cycle based on Japanese lyrics for the voice and piano was distinguished by the Chief of Jury, famous Ukrainian Composer Lesja Dychko.
Since 2011 for a few years, I had a collaboration with the Professor of Warsaw Institute if Music named after Chopin Irena Protasewich.
Composition Activity . Compositions performed at International Festivals:
- “Piece for Flute and Piano”, romance “Lily” performed at XIII international composers’ festival “Kiev Music Fest” (Ukraine, Kiev. 27.09.2001)
- “Pour toi” performed at XIII Julian Menendez International Clarinet Festival and Competition (Spain, Avila.26.07.2008) and at European Clarinet Festival (Belgium, Gent. 19.01.2013)
- “Des images espagnole” performed at XVI Julian Menendez International Clarinet Festival and Competition (Spain, Avila.22.07.2009).
- “Partite” (5 parts) for clarinet choir performed at XVI Julian Menendez International Clarinet Festival and Competition (Spain, Avila. 23.07.2009).
- 3 pieces pour petite clarinet: “Pour toi”, “Une image espagnole”, “Les Pensées” Class de Clarinet Hedwig Swimberghe Royal Conservatoire Bruxelles (Belgium, Brussels. 30.05.2010).
- “Imagination” for 2 violins, cello and piano Performed by D’Art Ensemble Concert at the Sabah Art Gallery music (Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu.18.07.2014)
- Concert for Ukraine. CD-recording. Works by Nadiya Poklad and Ukrainian composers. Performed by H. Swimberghe (Belgium) – clarinet, I. Poroshina (Ukraine) – piano, E. Zinko (Ukraine) – bassoon, Schmitz (Germany) – clarinet, L. Campion (France) – soprano, P. Sierens (Belgium) – clarinet. (Belgium, Muntplein – Brugge. 10.01.2015)
- Sonata for Piano solo. Performance of Ukrainian pianist, Dr. Veremyova Marina.
- (China, Jiangsu Province, Yancheng city. 01.12.2014)
- “Dance Fantastique” and “Pour toi” for Clarinet solo. Was performed by Belgian clarinetist H. Swimberghe (Serbia, Belgrade. 03.18.2017.)
In January 2012 I took part in Chamber Music Concert of young composers of Lugansk.
In 2010 I recorded CD (Ukraine, Luhansk city) with my composition in performance of clarinetist Hedwig Schwimberg.
During my work at the Music school (Ukraine, Luhansk city) I composed the number of music pieces for the winners of international music contests and for the performance at the Annual Summery Concerts of the School.
Active Organizer of the performances
During the work and creative activity in Ukraine I have organized two author concerts in city Lugansk.
In May 2010 (Ukraine, Luhansk city) I organized my first author concert with the wide range of genres, composed for the different scoring.
In May, 2011 I organized my author concert in the Concert Hall of Lugansk Institute of Culture and Arts with participation of the leading musicians of Lugansk and Kharkov.
Additional information
Since 2007 till 2009 (summer time) i worked as tour-guide in Sudak during the Annual international Festival of Historical Reconstruction. I am the member of Historical Reconstruction Club of the Eastern Region. Also, I am the winner of the Competition in Female Historical Costume “Middle Ages”.
Since 2000 until February 2012 worked as organist in Lugansk Rome-Catholic Church. Was leading holy Mass in Russian and Polish languages.