“Her performances are riveting in the true sense of the word: they mesmerize the listener and do not let go. This may well be due to her extraordinarily subtle and delicate touch, which allows her to play with every imaginable nuance of colour.” – Pizzicato Magazine
“For pianist Elena Margolina, Franz Schubert’s music has become a sort of native tongue. Her goal on the piano is to make her instrument sing. And yes: she does want to produce a recording of Schubert’s complete oeuvre eventually. But this equals a life task.” – NO•TE
“Her Schubert evokes empathy; the listener senses, as it were, her personal attitude towards this tormented composer, her understanding of Schubert’s multi-facetted feelings, allowing her to reflect this in her interpretations.” – Adrian Quanjer and HRAudio.net

Born in Lviv, Ukraine, pianist Elena Margolina enjoyed a highly distinguished musical education, graduating with a piano concert diploma from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory and, summa cum laude, from the University of Music in Detmold in 1996. Elena Margolina has won prizes at renowned piano and chamber international music competitions, including First Prize at the Fifth International Schubert Piano Competition in Dortmund in 1995. She has taught at the University of Music, Media and Drama in Hanover and at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart and offers master classes worldwide, including in Germany, Italy, South Korea, Canada, China, Albania, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, and the United Kingdom. In 2014, Elena Margolina joined the faculty of the University of Music in Detmold as professor of piano. Many of her students have launched successful international careers and are winning prizes at piano competitions around the world and Elena Margolina is sought after as a juror at international music competitions.

Margolina’s busy international career has taken her to venues all across Europe and worldwide. She has performed with conductors such as Heinz Holliger, Bryden Thompson, Doron Salomon, Ravil Martynov, Jiří Malát, Stefan Fraas, Siegfried Köhler and Lior Shambadal and with renowned orchestras including the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish National Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Russian State Academy Orchestra St. Petersburg, the Philharmonic Orchestra Dortmund, North West German Philharmonic and the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.

She has appeared at prestigious concert venues including Philharmonie Berlin, L’Auditori Barcelona, St. Petersburg Philharmonia, City Hall Glasgow, the Henry Crown Symphony Hall in Jerusalem, Konzerthaus Dortmund, UBC Vancouver Recital Hall, Casa da Música Porto, Pamplona City Hall, the Academy of Arts Concert Hall in Tirana and the Lviv Philharmony. Margolina has made numerous recordings for radio and television, including for the BBC, WDR, Radio Hessen, Danmarks Radio, Radio St. Petersburg, the Voice of Israel and Deutschlandradio. She has also made several CD recordings. Her album with Franz Schubert’s Sonata D 959 and Moments musicaux D 780 was awarded the “Supersonic Prize 2008” by Pizzicato Magazine of Luxembourg.

Music critic Joachim Kaiser about Elena Margolina: “One can feel the power and idiosyncrasy of the Russian piano school in Elena Margolina’s playing. She possesses a wonderfully smooth tone and a very precise touch; her playing is highly romantic, effusive and beautifully controlled.”