About Elena Kolganova
A current voice instructor at The Music Connection, Elena Kolganova got her start in her native city
of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. There, she studied vocal performance at the Tashkent College of Music,
and then continued her musical education at the Tashkent Conservatory. Upon moving to the
United States, she completed her training as a member of two prestigious operatic artist
development programs. These were the Houston Grand Opera Studio, and the Lyric Opera Center
for American Artists, held at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. From there, her professional career went
on to include performing at the Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera,
Opera Omaha, and Minnesota Orchestra. As well, during this time, she went on to win a number of
vocal competitions, including the Sullivan Foundation grant, as well as first place in both the Opera
Columbus Vocal Competition, and the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Voice
Competition.
More recently, she earned her Master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
in the field of Library and Information Science, from which point she served as a music librarian at
the VanderCook College of Music. During her tenure at the college, she provided mentorship to
students, until ultimately coming to The Music Connection, where she has had the pleasure of
teaching students for the past four years.