Dr. Larisa Elisha

Professor
Coordinator of Upper Strings
Violin/Viola

Email: larisaelisha@georgiasouthern.edu

Phone: 912-478-8536

Education:

D.M.A., K. Lipinski Academy of Music (Wroclaw, Poland)
M. M., Lunarcharsky State Academy of Music (Minsk, Belarus)
B.M., (with Honors) Lunarcharsky State Academy of Music (Minsk, Belarus)

“Elisha left the audience slack-jawed in awe with her tour-de-force playing of the cadenza [Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1]… It was heartbreakingly poignant and profound… The ovation that followed was as long and as enthusiastic as any I can recall in White Concert Hall….” – Topeka Capital-Journal

“Elisha’s playing was a dazzling display of virtuosic fingering…” – Lawrence Journal-World

“Extraordinary violinist” – Eleonore Schoenfeld

 Russian American violinist, Dr. Larisa Elisha, is an internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue, and has performed and taught extensively throughout Russia, Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Holland, Norway, Taiwan, Lithuania, Israel and the United States. Dr. Elisha was the Concertmaster of the Witold Lutoslawski State Philharmonic, Principal Violinist of the Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director and First Violinist of the Wratislavia String Quartet. She was Professor of Violin, Chamber Music and Pedagogy at the K. Lipinski Academy of Music in Wroclaw, Poland. Dr. Elisha has performed recitals at prestigious European chamber music festivals that include International Festival Wratislavia Cantans and Contemporary Music Festival Musica Polonica Nova in Wroclaw, Poland, Draeseke’s Festival in Germany, Gioventi Musicale d’Italia in Bergamo, Wieniawski Festival in Poland and the Mozart Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark. She has performed at the Royal Concertgebouw, Warsaw National Philharmonic, Karajan Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie, and has made numerous CD, radio and video recordings. Her solo performances of the Shostakovich Violin concerto with the Wroclaw Philharmonic and Koszalin Symphony Orchestras, solo recitals in Krakow and at the Wieniawski Festival in Szczawno Zdroj (Poland) drew critical acclaim. Dr. Elisha was Violin Artist-in-Residence at Washburn University and Concertmaster of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra. As Concertmaster of the Wichita Grand Opera, she performed featured solos with Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Joyce DiDonato. 

Dr. Elisha is heard regularly in solo and chamber music performances at national and international music festivals. Her recent solo performances with orchestra include the Washington Square Music Festival Orchestra, Hastings Symphony, Topeka Symphony, Gulf Coast Symphony, Lawrence Chamber Orchestra, Georgia Southern Camerata, Sunflower Music Festival Chamber Orchestra and National Taiwan Arts Orchestras. Larisa Elisha is the violinist and co-founder of the internationally acclaimed Elaris Duo with Cellist, Steven Elisha. As a winner of the prestigious Global Music Awards for the MSR Classics releases, DUO VIRTUOSO and DUO VIRTUOSO II, the Elaris Duo received critical acclaim from Gramophone, Fanfare Magazine, Atlanta Audio Society, American Record Guide, Malcolm Tattersall’s Music & Vision, Turok’s Choice, BBC Music and other leading publications. 

As a master teacher, performer and clinician, Dr. Elisha frequently presents lectures and master classes at national and international festivals, conferences, universities, including the Jerusalem Academy of Music, University of Haifa, Bergen International Festival, Lithuania Music and Theatre Academy, National Taiwan University of the Arts, Summit Music Festival, Charleston International Music School Summer Festival, American String Teachers Association, Georgia Music Educators Association and College Music Society. Continuing the tradition of legendary Russian violinists David Oistrakh and Yuri Yankelevich, she holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Belarus State Academy of Music in Minsk, where she was a student and Teaching Assistant of Professor Olga Parkhomienko, one of Oistrakh’s noted protégés. Larisa Elisha earned her Doctorate degree at the K. Lipinski Academy of Music in Wroclaw, Poland. 

Dr. Larisa Elisha is the Author of “Advanced Scale Studies for Violin” (Three-and-Four-Octave Scales) and “Advanced Scale Studies for Viola” – An Organized Method of practicing Scales, Arpeggios, Chromatic Scales and Complete Set of Double Stops, published by Carl Fischer Music. 

Currently, Dr. Elisha is Professor of Music and Coordinator of Upper String Studies at the Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music at Georgia Southern University, where she teaches Violin, Viola, Chamber Music, Violin/Viola Literature, and Method and Pedagogy. 

Last updated: 12/14/2023