Katya Ermolaeva is a musicologist, choral director, music educator and editor specializing in Russian and Soviet Music, Orthodox Liturgical Music, and American Children's Music. She received her B.A. in Music and English from Rutgers University and her Doctorate in Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland/University of St. Andrews. Her critical edition of Sergei Prokofiev's opera "War and Peace" (Op. 91) was performed by the Welsh National Opera under the direction of Sir David Pountney in their 2018-2019 season. Dr. Ermolaeva also provided Russian and Church Slavonic texts for conductor Thomas Dausgaard's a choral arrangement of Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition," which was premiered by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Swedish Radio Chorus in 2019.

 

Since 2022, Dr. Ermolaeva has been the Music Director at Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church in Princeton, NJ. She serves as a musicological consultant for Music Together Worldwide, conducting research on the historical origins of children's songs, their cultural contexts and their appropriateness in the music education classroom. A Certified Level I Music Together teacher, Dr. Ermolaeva taught infant-pre-K music classes at Princeton Music Together Lab School from 2017-2021.