Marina Frolova-Walker FBA (russian: link=no, Марина Фролова-Уокер; born 1966) is a Russian-born British

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

and

music historian Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...

, who specialises in German Romanticism,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

Soviet music The music of the Soviet Union varied in many genres and epochs. The majority of it was considered to be part of the Russian culture, but other national cultures from the Republics of the Soviet Union made significant contributions as well. The So ...

, and

nationalism in music Musical nationalism refers to the use of musical ideas or motifs that are identified with a specific country, region, or ethnicity, such as folk tunes and melodies, rhythms, and harmonies inspired by them. History As a musical movement, nation ...

. She is Professor of Music History at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and Director of Studies in Music at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

. In June 2019 it was announced that she would be the 36th Professor of Music at

Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...

. She has authored several books and a number of academic articles.

Biography

Born in Moscow, she first attended the college ( ru) of the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

and then subsequently completed her graduate studies at the conservatory proper. In 1994 she defended her doctorate on the symphonies of the 19th century German composer

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

and their influence on Russian music. She moved to the United Kingdom in the same year "for personal, rather than political reasons." Between 1994 and 2000 she taught at various universities in the UK, namely at the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

, and

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

. In 2000 she started teaching at the University of Cambridge. In her biography, Frolova-Walker writes that she began teaching at 19, and adds that she has given more than 100 lectures before concerts in locations ranging from

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

to factories in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. In 2014, Frolova-Walker was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy, the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanit ...

for the humanities and social sciences. In 2015, Frolova-Walker was elected to professorship at the

. She delivered her inaugural professorial lecture at the

in October 2015. Also in 2015 Frolova-Walker was awarded the

Dent Medal Dent may refer to: People * Dent (surname) * Dent May (active 2007), American musician * Dent Mowrey (1888–1960), American composer, musician and music teacher * Dent Oliver (1918–1973), international speedway rider Places France * Dent d' ...

for outstanding contribution to musicology. Frolova-Walker has appeared regularly on TV and Radio including the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

. In 2015 she appeared on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

Proms Extra speaking on

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

Leningrad Symphony Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60, nicknamed the ''Leningrad'', was begun in Leningrad, completed in the city of Samara (then known as Kuybyshev) in December 1941, and premiered in that city on March 5, 1942. At first dedica ...

. She has also contributed to the

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

'A to Z'
BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week
and BBC Radio 3

Record Review ''Record Review'' is a Saturday morning radio programme (usually airing from 9am to 11:45am) dealing with recent classical music releases, topical issues and interviews. The programme title is a return of ''Record Review'' which was broadcast o ...

. In 2018-19, Frolova-Walker gave a series of lectures o
'Russian Opera and the State'
at

; in 2019-20 her Gresham lectures will be on

Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...

and the

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. A ...

. Links to her radio broadcasts, filmed lectures, and selected articles can be found o
Frolova-Walker's website

Works

Frolova-Walker's interest in historiography of Russian music and the nationalist/exoticist myths resulted in the book titled ''Russian Music and Nationalism: from Glinka to Stalin'' (2008), which is considered her ''magnum opus''. It has received generally favourable reviews from critics. Andrew Wachtel, although pointing out several errors and shortcomings, wrote that it "will be important for all scholars interested in manifestations of Russian nationalist thinking and/or in the process of cultural nation-building." In 2011-13 she held a Major Research Fellowship from the everhulme Trust which allowed her to pursue extensive archival research in ussia leading to the publication of ''Stalin's Music Prize: Soviet Culture and Politics'' (

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, 2016). ;Books * * * *Frolova-Walker, Marina and Patrick Zuk (eds.) (2017).
Russian Music Since 1917: Reappraisal and Rediscovery
'' Oxford University Press/British Academy. *Frolova-Walker, Marina (ed.) (2018).

'' Princeton, NJ.: Princeton University Press. . ;Selected articles * * * * * * * *

Awards and honors

* 2015: Dent Medal for Excellence in the field of Musicology

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frolova-Walker, Marina 1966 births Living people British musicologists Women musicologists Members of the University of Cambridge Faculty of Music Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge Academic staff of Saratov State University Russian musicologists Russian emigrants to the United Kingdom