Galina Grigorjeva was born in Crimea and studied at the Simferopol School of Music and the Odessa Conservatory. In 1991, she graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory as a composition student of Professor Yuri Falik, and from 1994 to 1998, she completed her master’s studies at the Estonian Academy of Music under the guidance of Lepo Sumera.
Grigorjeva is a highly distinctive composer in today’s Estonia, with melodic thinking as the foundation of her creative work. The concentrated nature of her music has something in common with Arvo Pärt’s tintinnabuli style, yet her sonic palette is enriched by Slavic cultural heritage, in which she feels deeply rooted.
She often selects texts from Russian sources for her vocal compositions—ranging from Russian folklore and poetry to, increasingly, the texts of the Russian Orthodox Church. She has studied early Orthodox liturgical music and spiritual verse forms, which have had a clear impact on her work. Even in her instrumental pieces, one can sense a vocal, lyrical quality, and echoes of early music.
In 2000, Estonian Radio selected her piece Farewell to represent Estonia at the International Rostrum of Composers in Amsterdam, and her work Lament was chosen for the Paris Rostrum in 2002.
Galina Grigorjeva is the recipient of several prestigious awards: Heino Eller Music Prize (2003); Estonian Cultural Endowment Music Prize (2004, 2013); Order of the White Star, 4th Class (2014); her author album In paradisum won the Estonian Music Award for Best Classical Album in 2015; in 2020, she received the Lepo Sumera Composition Prize.
