Nina Balabina

When David Oistrakh heard Nina Balabina play at the age of nine, he recommended she move to St Petersburg to continue her violin studies. While graduating from the Conservatory of St Petersburg Nina was already a much sought-after pedagogue. The year after graduation she founded a new specialist music school in St. Petersburg which is still thriving today. From 1970 to 1992 Nina played in the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mariinsky Opera and Ballet Theatre under Mravinsky, Temirkanov and Gergiev.

In 1992 Nina moved to Sweden, playing with the Stockholm Royal Opera, The Philharmonic Orchestra and The Stockholm Quartet. In 1994 she founded, and continues to direct, the specialist music school Lilla Akadamien, now one of the leading music institutions in Scandinavia.

In 2005 Nina Balabina received the St Erik’s Medal for
“her path-breaking work for children’s education in classical music” and was named the “entrepreneur of the year” by Carpe Vitam. In January 2006 she was awarded one of the most esteemed accolades in Sweden, the King’s Medal, for her initiative in Swedish musical life. Over the last ten years she has been invited to give masterclasses in New York, New Zealand, Estonia, Italy, England, Romania, Poland, Spain, Korea, China, Mexico, Taiwan and Japan.