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, Larisa Elisha, is an internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue, having 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 Concertgebouw, Warsaw National Philharmonic and Karajan Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie, and has made numerous CD, radio and television recordings. Her solo performances of the Shostakovich Violin concerto with the Wroclaw and Koszalin Symphony Orchestras as well as 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, including Summit, Sunflower and other national and international music festivals. She is the Violinist and Co-founder of the Elaris Duo with Cellist, Steven Elisha. The Duo performs extensively nationally and internationally. As winners of the prestigious Global Music Award, in the Duo and New Release Categories, the Elaris Duo’s 2018 MSR-Classics release, DUO VIRTUOSO II: Works for Violin and Cello – Honegger, Ravel, Schulhoff has received acclaim and was featured in Fanfare, Gramophone, American Record Guide as well as other noted music publications. The Duo’s MSR-Classics re-release, DUO VIRTUOSO, won a 2020 Global Music Award and received critical acclaim from Fanfare Magazine, Atlanta Audio Society, American Record Guide, Malcolm Tattersall’s “Music & Vision,” Turok’s Choice and BBC Music. As a master teacher, Dr. Elisha maintains a very successful studio. Many of her students won national/international competitions, have graduated from major Music Schools and Conservatories and have successful performing and teaching careers. Dr. Elisha is the author of Advanced Scale Studies for Violin and Advanced Scale Studies for Viola. As a performer-clinician, she frequently presents performances, lectures and Master Classes at national and international music festivals, conferences and universities, including the Jerusalem Academy of Music, University of Haifa, Summit Music Festival, Charleston International Music School Summer Festival, Washington Square Music

Festivals, Lithuania Music and Theatre Academy, National Taiwan University of the Arts, American String Teachers Association, Georgia Music Educators Association and College Music Society. Dr. Elisha belongs to numerous professional and honors organizations and has been the recipient of many awards, including
the 2008 Kansas Governor’s Arts Award, the Kansas Federation of Music Club’s Musicians of the Year Award, a Chamber Music America Residency Grant, Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and an honorary Life-Time Membership to Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI). Continuing the tradition of Russian violinist 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. Currently, she is Professor of Music and Coordinator of Upper String Studies at Georgia Southern University Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music.

Last updated: 3/30/2022