Olga Mikhaleva

Olga Mikhaleva was born and raised in Vitebsk (Belarus), where she initially studied music pedagogy at the local music college. She went on to study at the Minsk State Academy of Music, completing degrees in button accordion (with Nikolaj Sevrjukov), orchestral conducting (with Gennadi Provatorov), and an MA in music pedagogy in 2000.

Following two years of teaching at the Music Education University in Vitebsk and at a School of Arts, she moved to Austria to continue her studies at the Mozarteum University Salzburg. There, she studied orchestral conducting with Dennis Russell Davies and choral conducting with Karl Kamper, and also took part in courses with Neil Thomson and Peter Gülke.

During her studies, she already gained conducting experience with ensembles such as the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, the oenm (Österreichisches Ensemble für Neue Musik), the Philharmonic Orchestra Bad Reichenhall and the Bruckner Orchester Linz.

A particular focus of her work lies in collaboration with amateur ensembles. She has worked extensively with groups including the Braunau Symphony Orchestra, the Burghausen Chamber Orchestra, the Salzburg Mozart Choir, the Mattighofen Project Choir and Orchestra, as well as numerous male and mixed choirs in Salzburg and Upper Austria.

She has also gained valuable experience in the choral department of the Vienna State Opera and works regularly with the Gustav Mahler Choir Vienna and the Slovak Philharmonic Choir Bratislava. In spring 2015, she was invited to Paris as an assistant for a production with the Chœur de Radio France.

Since 2013, Olga Mikhaleva has been a lecturer in solfeggio and aural training at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.