At the age of 5, Elena Ulyanova began studying piano with her mother, Larisa Ulyanova, in Saki, Crimea. After winning several first prizes in Ukrainian and Russian competitions, she was awarded full scholarships for study in Moscow at Gnessin College of Music, Gnessin Academy of Music, and Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Shortly after entering the Moscow Conservatory, she became a prizewinner in the second Rachmaninov International Piano Competition. After receiving her Master of Music degree from Moscow Conservatory, she pursued postgraduate study with Victor Merzhanov, while performing many concerts for the Moscow Philharmonic Concert Association. Elena has also taken master classes with Emanual Krasovsky, Victor Derevianko, John O’Connor, Howard Shelley, and Leslie Howard.

Elena recorded her first solo CD with Classical Records in 2004 with music from Franz Liszt, following which she immigrated to Washington DC. In 2005 she studied with Howard Shelley, who has recorded all of Rachmaninoff’s works, to prepare for recording the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which along with Piano Concerto No. 2, is performed with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra on her 2006 CD released by Bel Air Music. Elena has also been featured on radio stations WFMT in Chicago, CKWR in Ontario, and WQED in Pittsburgh.

Elena has performed orchestra, chamber, and solo concerts throughout the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Austria, Korea, Netherlands, China, Poland, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, and Romania. Her performances with Orchestras include the Vienna Musikverein Orchestra, the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Crimea State Symphony Orchestra, the state Russian Orchestra “Boyan”, and the Omsk Philharmonic. With the Rachmaninoff White Lilacs Festival Orchestra in 2001, Elena masterfully performed the Rachmaninoff Second Concerto on only four hours’ notice! In November 2014, she was awarded the elite status of “Steinway Artist” by Steinway & Sons, New York. More