OPERA AND SYMPHONIC CONDUCTING

Preliminary Creative Selection
The applicant independently works with an orchestra:
— Within 30 minutes, prepares and conducts a simple symphonic work (part of a symphony, suite, etc., for example: Bizet "L’Arlésienne", Tchaikovsky Suite No. 1).

The competitive examination includes:

  • Performance of the program

  • Colloquium

  • Solfeggio and harmony (written and oral)

  • Piano

Performance of the Program
The applicant must:

  • Conduct two symphonic works of contrasting tempo and character (at the piano)

  • Perform 2–3 pieces on any instrument other than the piano

Approximate repertoire for conducting at the piano:
Beethoven (Symphonies 1, 2, 4, 7; overtures "Coriolan", "Egmont"),
Borodin, Brahms, Wagner, Haydn, Glazunov, Kalinnikov, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Myaskovsky, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Khachaturian, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Schubert, and others (see complete list above).

Approximate repertoire for conducting with orchestra:
Beethoven, Bizet, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Schubert, and others.

Colloquium
Questions are similar to those of the piano and string faculties:

  • Knowledge of the stages and regularities of the history of music

  • Knowledge of literature in the specialty, orchestral scores, and instruments of the symphony orchestra (timbres, registers, transpositions, expressive means)

  • Ability to analyze works prepared for the exam and to play an excerpt from a score at sight

List of required literature:
Bartók, Bach, Berlioz, Beethoven, Bizet, Borodin, Brahms, Wagner, Weber, Verdi, Haydn, Glazunov, Glinka, Gounod, Dargomyzhsky, Dvořák, Debussy, Kabalevsky, Kalinnikov, Liszt, Lyadov, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Myaskovsky, Prokofiev, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, and others.

Entrance Requirements for Music-Theoretical Disciplines

Solfeggio (oral):

  • Singing scales in keys with 3 to 7 accidentals: two types of major and three types of minor, chromatic major scale (up and down), chromatic minor scale (up)

  • All types of triads and seventh chords (with inversions and resolutions), modulations to the I, II, and III degrees of relation

  • Sight-singing a monophonic melody (major/minor, chromaticisms, modulations, complex meters), two-voice examples (play one voice, sing the other)

  • Level of difficulty: Ostrovsky, Solovyov, Shokin; Spasobin (2- or 3-voice solfeggio)

Harmony (oral):

  • Performing modulations at the piano (to keys of the I, II, III degrees of relation in the form of a period; modulations via D7)

  • Harmonic analysis at sight of works in various styles (level: Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Rachmaninoff)

  • Answering questions on the harmony course

Entrance Requirements for “General Piano”
The applicant must perform:

  • One polyphonic work in the original by a Russian, foreign, or CIS composer

  • 1 or 2–3 movements of a sonata, or variations

  • One free-form piece

CONDUCTING AN ACADEMIC CHOIR

Preliminary Creative Selection
Work with a choir on an a cappella piece from those proposed by the committee (15 minutes)

Approximate difficulty of works:
Davidenko, Lyatoshinsky, Taneyev, Tchaikovsky, Shebalin, Schumann, and others.

The competitive examination in the specialty includes:

  • Performance of the program

  • Colloquium

  • Solfeggio

  • Piano

Performance of the Program
The applicant must:

  • Conduct two choral works of contrasting tempo and character (one — a cappella, the other — with accompaniment)

  • Sing from memory, while beating time, one of the voices of a choral score and the sequence of chords

  • Perform from memory the score of a cappella choir on the piano

Approximate repertoire for conducting:
Bach, Boyko, Brahms, Gedike, Balakirev, Grechaninov, Dargomyzhsky, Egorov, Kalinnikov, Kastalsky, Koval, Kodály, Cui, Lensky, Mendelssohn, Novikov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rossini, Russian folk songs, and others.

Colloquium
Similar to other faculties, includes:

  • Knowledge of literature in the specialty and choral studies

  • Methodology of teaching at school, work with an amateur choir

  • Ability to sight-read a four-part choral score

  • Analysis of one of the performed works by content, style, and means of performance

List of literature for choral studies:
Dmitrievsky, Kazachkov, Olkhov, Pirogov, Sokolov, Chesnokov

Entrance Requirements for Music-Theoretical Disciplines

Solfeggio (oral):

  • As for piano: scales, chromatic scales, triads, seventh chords, harmonic progressions, sight-singing, two-voice exercises

Harmony (oral):

  • Modulations, sequences, harmonic analysis of works, harmony questions

Entrance Requirements for “General Piano”
The applicant must perform:

  • One polyphonic work in the original by a Russian, foreign, or CIS composer

  • 1 or 2–3 movements of a sonata, or variations

  • One free-form piece

DEPARTMENT OF CONDUCTING

  • Yu.Yu. Ostapenko — Head of Department, Distinguished Cultural Worker, Associate Professor
  • T.K. Toktorbaev — Senior Lecturer
  • A. K. Muratalieva — Professor, Honored Cultural Worker of the Kyrgyz Republic
  • L.S. Tkacheva — Senior Lecturer
  • M.M. Osmonova — Senior Lecturer
  • L. V. Dmitrishchenko — Leading Concertmaster
  • G. S. Yusupova — Leading Concertmaster
  • E. Yu. Ryabikhina — Concertmaster

The first teachers of the “Conducting” Department were: S.Yu. Yusupov — People’s Artist of the Kyrgyz Republic, L.T. Nissembam — Associate Professor, A.U. Ukurchinov — Honored Artist of the Kyrgyz Republic, M.S. Gurieva — Associate Professor, A.K. Muratalieva — Honored Cultural Worker of the Kyrgyz Republic, Professor, B.S. Mambetaliyev — Associate Professor, M.I. Mambetaliyeva — Senior Lecturer, V.D. Gumbin — Honored Artist of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The department fosters a creative and friendly atmosphere. There is ongoing communication with graduates, vocational guidance work is carried out with mid-level educational institutions, and joint concerts are held. Over time, the teaching staff of the “Conducting” Department is updated. Currently, the department employs: Yu.Yu. Ostapenko — Head of Department, Distinguished Cultural Worker; A.K. Muratalieva — Honored Cultural Worker of the Kyrgyz Republic, Professor; L.S. Tkacheva — Senior Lecturer; T.K. Toktorbaev — Senior Lecturer; M.M. Osmonov — Senior Lecturer. The young lecturers are graduates of the Conservatory’s Assistant Internship program.

The first heads of the Conservatory choir were People’s Artist of the Kyrgyz Republic, Professor S. Yusupov; People’s Artist of the Kyrgyz Republic, Professor K. Aliyev; Honored Art Worker of the Kyrgyz Republic V. Gumbin; Honored Art Worker of the Kyrgyz Republic, Professor A.K. Muratalieva.

Currently, the chief choirmaster is Associate Professor, Distinguished Cultural Worker, and Head of Department Yu.Yu. Ostapenko; choirmaster — Senior Lecturer T.K. Toktorbaev.

The mixed choir is actively engaged in concert activities. Over its existence, the Conservatory choir has performed the most complex works of world and national classical music.

Over the years, the department has trained and graduated young conductors who work not only in Kyrgyzstan, but also in neighboring and far-abroad countries (Kazakhstan, Russia, Germany, Italy).

The Department of Conducting is of great importance for the development of the arts and culture of Kyrgyzstan, as it is the only institution in the country that trains high-level professional specialists — symphonic orchestra and choral artists, teachers, singers, performers, and promotes classical and folk music.

Thanks to training at the Conservatory, our students, both in teaching and performance, demonstrate their artistic skills, the ability to reveal the artistic image of the works they perform, the ability to teach beginner musicians, to instill a love for aesthetic beauty, music, and art.