Elena Frolova

Elena Borisovna Frolova (; born 1 October 1969) is a Russian singer-songwriter, composer, and poet. She has made songs based on Russian 20th century poetry, including by Marina Tsvetaeva, Sophia Parnok, Joseph Brodsky, Anna Barkova, Andrei Belyi, Varlam Shalamov, Maria Petrovykh, Veniamin Blazhenny, and Bulat Okudzhava, as well as her own poetry. Frolova is one of few performers who uses Russian folk instrument gusli and ancient harp, along with classical six-string guitar for the accompaniment. During 25 years of work she created more than 630 songs and published more than 40 music albums.

Biography Born in Riga, Frolova composed her first song at age of 15. That was song on poem "I wrote on the slate" by Marina Tsvetaeva. She was a winner of many song and music festivals, including the Second All-Union Festival in Tallinn in 1988. Since 1988 Elena performed together with Vera Evushkina, in the author's duet "VerLen". She is a co-founder and active member of creative group "ASiA", together with Tatiana Aleshina, Alexander Derevyagin and Nicholai Yakimov. She is a member of juries in Russian art song festivals, including Grushinsky festival. During last few years, Elena made a number of tours in trio "Trilogy" with performer of Russian romance Julia Ziganshina and singer-songwriter Elmira Galeeva,

Since 1989, Elena Frolova worked in Moscow Theatre of Music and Poetry directed by Elena Kamburova. She is a member of Union of Russian Writers. Since 1991, she made many tours with her solo concerts in Russia, Germany, Italy, France, and Israel. Her songs on poems by Russian poets of the Silver Age and her own poetry brought her wide recognition. According to Marina Gershenovich : "The cycle of songs based on poems by Marina Tsvetaeva makes you to believe in the idea of reincarnation. The image of Marina is just as real as your own perception of reality. Coming through the music and voice of Elena, Tsvetaeva rebels, loves, tell prophecies, makes fun, and creates... One can bring back from the death someone he truly loves. Elena Frolova does it with her songs." A documentary about work by Frolova on poetry by Tsvetaeva was created by Irina Roerig

In 1996, Elena has mastered a new instrument, gusli, to perform Russian folk and other songs.

Since 2002, she participates in World Music festivals and concerts in Russia, many countries around the Europe, Israel, Argentina, and Mexico. She performed in Théâtre de la Ville, Bienvenue à la Maison des Cultures du Monde and Théâtre des Abbesses in Paris, Teatro de la República in Mexico, as well as in Barcelona, Madrid, Brussels and Antwerp. Since 2008 she has been a regular guest at the Festival of Arts in Naxos.

Frolova took part in the congress "The historical experience of the Soviet Communist totalitarianism: the opposition to Gulag" in Milan in 2003 with the program on poems by Varlam Shalamov. In March 2004, she represented Russia at the First International Festival "Eurasia Diva" in Moscow.

In 2007 she published a book of her poetry, "Song for Eurydice". Frolova also participates in creation of animated movies. She performed romance Don't wake her up at dawn... on words by Afanasy Fet in My Love by Aleksandr Petrov and composed music for animated version of The Legend of Lady Godiva

Poetry Elena composed many songs on her own poetry, one of the most popular being A Straw. Many of her poems and songs have strong spiritual and Christian components, such as her Journey into Eden, a song dedicated to Francis of Assisi, and Disciple Day.

Concerts published on YouTube Blessed are the humble in spirit ( Introduction, Part 1, Part 2a, Part 2b, Part 3), 2010-2011. Russian Romance, Selected songs, Moscow, 2011 Film-concert "Dorozhenka (That path).", Minsk, 2006 Road to Heaven, concert in Kazan, 2003 Concert in Yekaterinburg, 2009, where she presented songs on poetry by Marina Tsvetaeva, Sophia Parnok and Gubanov (Part 1) and her own poetry (Part 2) Elena Frolova and Dmitry Strotsev, part 1 and part 2, 2006 Ten years to duet VerLen, Part 1 and Part 2, 1998 Concerts and interviews on TV: Music of meetings and One who came to us, Above the roof, 2010

Selected discography Songs on her own poetry Wanderer 1995 My white sparrow, 1995 Heaven loves you, 1997 Dear road, Russian folk songs; poetry by Sergey Yesenin and Frolova, 2002 Travel to Paradise, 2005 Solar thread, 2006 Songs of heart, 2009 Lada, Russian folk songs, Esenin and Frolova, 2009, records at thankyou.ru Songs on poetry by Tsvetaeva Angel and lion, Tsvetaeva, Blok and Mandelshtam, 1992 Annunciation Day, 1995 records My Tsvetaeva part 1 and part 2, 2002 El sol de la tarde, 2008 Khvanyn'-Kolyvan, 2007 Discs with Vera Evushkina Verlen, 1992 Listen by heart, 2008 (1996–1998, 2006 records) Oh, listen!, 2003 My love, color the green, Tsvetaeva, Esenin and others, 1995 Dove flied, 1999 Poetry by Joseph Brodsky: Romance of a happy man, 2010 Clouds are passing by, 2005, poetry by Parnok, Shalamov, Blazhenny, Tsvetaeva, Gershenovich and others A little theater on the small planet of Earth, 2009, poetry by Andrei Belyi Letter, 2003, poetry by Varlam Shalamov Wind from Viagolosa, poetry by Sophia Parnok, 2002 A concert, 2003, songs on poems by Anna Barkova, Osip Mandelshtam, Veniamin Blazhenny, Varlam Shalamov, Anna Akhmatova and others Willow bird, songs on poems by Marina Gershenovich, Irina Ratushinskaya, Veniamin Blazhenny and others, 1999 Bright holiday of homelessness, 1995, Brodsky, Tsvetaeva, Yuri Levitansky, Mikhail Kuzmin Poetry by Dmitry Strotsev: part 1, part 2, link, 2002 Seconda Parte, disk in collaboration with creative group AZIA, 2002 A concert, part 1, part 2, 2003 Mandelshtam Street, 2005, songs on poetry by Osip Mandelshtam Stairs of love, poetry by Leonid Gubanov, 2008 Discs with Elmira Galeeva and Yulia Ziganshina Trilogia, 2006 Rosemary, sage..., 2008 Dear Enemy, 2007, poetry by Anna Barkova Russian Asian, 2007, Barkova, Frolova, Parnok Running girl – Russian Psyche, a concert, 2009 IZ NEDR И НА ВЕТВЬ, 2009 Bird Tango, Brodsky, Tsvetaeva, Blazhenny, Petrova, Frolova, 2010 A concert, 2010 Amor mio. Αγάπη μου. My love, Folk songs, poetic translations/texts to Russian by Frolova, 2011 A concert, 2011 Ves, Soundtrack to the poetry collection, poetry by Strotsev, Gershenovich, Vertinsky, Gumilev, Zabolotsky, Levitansky, 2013