Dr. Olga Kravets, a native of Moscow, received her musical education in that city, first at Ippolitov-Ivanov Musical College for her bachelor’s degree in Choral Conducting, and subsequently at Moscow Pedagogical University for her graduate degree. She has experience in directing many types of music: Renaissance, Baroque, classical and romantic, contemporary, sacred, folk music of different countries and jazz, together with experience in both piano and conducting instruction at all levels and for all ages. A resident of the Peninsula for over twenty years, she is the owner of Art of Music, offering instruction in piano, theory and conducting. Dr. Kravets was for fourteen years the Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church of Gloucester, and she directed the Gloucester Choral Society for six years.
Ms. Diane Nolan, a native of Yorktown and graduate of the College of William and Mary, holds the Master of Music degree in Sacred Music and Organ from Duquesne University and the Master of Arts degree in Musicology from the University of Bristol in Bristol, England. She has held organist positions in various churches on the Virginia peninsula, and previously served on the board of the Tidewater chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Ms. Nolan’s scholarly interests center on British music of the late 19th and 20th centuries. Her MA dissertation on cathedral organist Herbert Sumsion was published in the journal of the British Music Society, and she is serving as editor of Volume 12 of the Elgar Complete Edition. Ms. Nolan currently works in the Performing Arts division of the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Robert Rubinstein earns his living as a scientist at NASA Langley Research Center, but he is a dedicated lover, listener, and performer of classical music. Dr. Rubinstein grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey; his father, the late Jacques Rubinstein, was a violinist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. During those years, Dr. Rubinstein studied piano with Marya Sielska. He studied violin and viola with Juan Ramirez of the Atlanta Symphony and Boris Chusid of the Cleveland Orchestra. Dr. Rubinstein is active in amateur chamber music circles through participation in Play Week Virginia, and has performed with community orchestras in Atlanta, Cleveland, and locally in YRSO and the Northern Neck Orchestra.
