Biography
A Russian/Ukranian child prodigy, Dr Elena Vorotko was born in Togliatti, Russia in 1980. Her Mother was her first teacher and by the age of 9 she made her public debut performing with Togliatti Symphony Orchestra. Elena went on winning several regional piano competitions and toured with concerts in Russia, Germany and France. At 13 she moved to study in Nizhny Novgorod under Natalia Fish, won Grand Prix in Lyakhovitskaya International Piano and Composition Competition in St Petersburg and third Prize in Vladimir Krainev International Piano Competition in Kharkiv. She also took part in international festivals in France and Germany and performed with Virtuosi of Moscow under V. Spivakov.
At 16 she came to London to study on full scholarship form Pilkington Trust at The Purcell School of Music and later The Royal Academy of Music. There she studied piano with Tatiana Sarkissova and Prof Christopher Elton as well as harpsichord with Virginia Black, clavichord with Terence Charlston and composition with Ruth Byrchmore. Other formative influences came from Alexander Satz, Malcolm Bilson, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Menno van Delft, Paul Badura-Skoda, Catalina Vicens and Noretta Conci. Elena is deeply grateful to have been supported throughout her Academy years by scholarships and by Margaret and Michael Garner and their circle of friends.
Since she arrived in the UK Elena has won the Alfred Brendel Award and the Harriet Cohen Bach Prize. In 2005 she was chosen by the Keyboard Trust to give recital tours in the UK, Germany, Italy, South and North America. In 2006 she won Third Prize at the XV J. S. Bach International Competition in Leipzig. She has performed in leading concert halls in London, including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, St Martin-in-the-fields and St John’s Smith Square. Her debut at the Park Lane New Year Series 2006 at the Purcell Room was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and won her critical acclaim. Since then Elena made multiple appearances on BBC radio and television as a pianist, historical performer, composer and academic.
In 2010 she completed her PhD entitled ‘Realising Interpretative Traditions in J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier’ under the direction of Dr Roy Howat and Dr Neil Heyde at the Royal Academy of Music. Now she is in demand as a demonstrator, performer and educator on historical instruments. She presents public lectures at the RAM Museum as an Honorary Research Fellow and works as an Artistic co-Director and a Trustee of the Keyboard Charitable Trust. In 2016 Elena was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in recognition of her support for young musicians. Elena is a busy mother and piano teacher living in Beaconsfield with a musical family. In 2019 she founded BeeMusic, a free initiative that provides concert opportunities for musical school children in the area for the benefit of local Care Homes, Churches and Hospitals.
’Vorotko’s forceful fingers uncovered music of steel strength and crystalline beauty’ - The Times
‘Vorotko’s range of tonal colour was enormous, as were the intense swings in emotional content – achieved through sheer technical virtuosity and an iron grip on dynamics and phrasing.’ - Musical Source