Ekaterina Isayevskaya
Job description
Ekaterina accompanies and mentors students at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, with a primary focus on the following instruments: clarinet, cello, euphonium, tenor trombone, bass trombone, and voice. Her role involves preparing and performing repertoire with students during the conservatoire’s exams, semester assessments, and entrance auditions, as well as providing accompaniment for masterclasses, seminars, class instruction, and public concerts. Additionally, Ekaterina teaches chamber music, serving as both a performing and supervising teacher.
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Publications outside Cristin
Research interests
Presentation: Melodramatic Jazz and Lamenting Mosquitoes. Work with Two Norwegian Pieces for Trombone and Piano (2026). During this presentation, pianist Ekaterina Isayevskaya and trombonist Eyvind Sommerfelt present artistic results from their work on the interpretation and performance of the works Elegi by Magne Amdahl and Mosquito by Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen.
The presentation focuses on how dynamic contrasts, timbre, and interplay influence musical expression. In Elegi, particular attention is given to the extreme dynamic transitions and how these may be understood as a musical processing of reflection and emotional outbursts. In the work on Mosquito, attention is directed toward the differences between the original version for trombone and brass band and the later version for trombone and piano, in which a more intimate chamber music interaction emerges.
Presentation: Grieg on Trombone. Work on Arranging Grieg’s Songs and Piano Pieces for Trombone and Piano (2024). This project explores how the music of Edvard Grieg can be adapted and communicated through the instrumentation of trombone and piano. The work is based on reflection on timbre, register, phrasing, and the interaction between the parts, with the aim of creating new musical expressions without losing Grieg’s original character. Through analysis of both song texts and musical lines, the project explores how themes such as love, nature, life, and death may be conveyed in a new way. The project demonstrates how conscious artistic choices can give familiar music renewed relevance and strengthen the connection between tradition, performer, and audience.
Morning Concert in connection with the Research Days and the Workshop on Ocean Interconnectedness (2023). In connection with the Research Days and the Workshop on Ocean Interconnectedness, the “Morning Concert” was organized in collaboration with the Department of Geosciences and the Faculty of Law at UiT The Arctic University of Norway.
The concert took place at the Theory Subject Building (Teorifagbygget) at UiT and featured works by C. Debussy (Clair de Lune), J. Ireland (Sea Fever), L. Einaudi (Waves), M. Bor (Draught), and C. Saint-Saëns (The Swan).
The concert programme was conceived as an interdisciplinary artistic platform in which music, text, and visual elements collectively fostered reflection on the ecological, cultural, and societal significance of the ocean. During the performance, a presentation was shown containing texts that highlighted humanity’s relationship with the sea, its fundamental importance to life and society, and the shared responsibility to protect and sustainably manage marine environments.
The concept of integrating music and text within the presentation was developed by Ekaterina Isayevskaya with the aim of enhancing music’s communicative and emotional impact on the audience. The presentation also included photographic material from expeditions to the Arctic Ocean conducted in collaboration with marine researchers from the Department of Geosciences at UiT.
- Panieri, G., Poto, M. P., Bertella, G., Bertolotto Bianc, G., Médici, N., Murray, E. M., Pandeva, R., & Vita, L. (2023). Ocean Interconnectedness: An interdisciplinary workshop to learn from the ocean, through multisensory activities and reflections on the role of emotions in science and law: Senses & Science, Love & Law. Septentrio Reports, (1). https://doi.org/10.7557/7.7271
Towards the Northern Lights (2023) is an interdisciplinary collaborative project between pianist Ekaterina Isayevskaya, composer and laptop performer Rakel Nystabakk, and lighting designer Tor S. Ditlevsen. The project explores humanity’s longing to move toward the unknown and the search for new goals and experiences, with the Northern Lights serving as a symbol of inner drive and the spirit of discovery.
The concert performance combines classical music, electronics, and visual elements in an encounter between nature, history, and the present day. Rakel Nystabakk has composed a new work for piano and electronics inspired by thematic elements from the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The music is enhanced through lighting design, animation, video, and scenography based on Northern Lights photography, Arctic landscapes, and historical material from the expeditions of Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen.
The project is carried out in collaboration with Norges arktiske universitetsmuseum and is supported by Kulturrådet and UMAK at UiT Norges arktiske universitet. The project’s concept and idea was created and developed by Ekaterina Isayevskaya.