A creative space

A woman who is a violinist, pianist and composer recently opened a studio in Camas.

Tatiana Kolchanova, 50, who moved to the United States from Russia in 2007, will celebrate the opening of the Music & Arts Academy, 906 N.E. Third Ave., Saturday, April 4, beginning at 1 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

Kolchanova, who formed a community orchestra in Camas last summer, gives private and group lessons in viola, violin, piano and chamber music. Classes in music theory will be taught by cellist Elizabeth Dyson of Portland-based Cascadia Composers.

Kolchanova provides discounts to those who pre-pay for lessons and for families with more than one student enrolled in classes. She also offers a flexible schedule.

“I do whatever they need,” she said.

Kolchanova, a Washougal resident, had previously been teaching from a room she rented at Classique Music Academy in Vancouver. She is excited to have her own space in the community where she lives, and looks forward to sharing her music knowledge, expertise and experience.

“I feel like I’m not just a music teacher, I’m a life teacher,” Kolchanova said. “Music teaches how to have patience, stay in focus, be creative and express yourself. This is my philosophy. I want this to be a creative space.”

When she was a child, her parents enrolled her in private piano lessons after she expressed an interest in the instrument. She later took up the violin, which she chose to place her focus on as she continued her formal education.

Kolchanova graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1989 and earned a doctorate in 1993.

She was a violinist for the Russian Radio and TV Orchestra for eight years, and was first violin for the Glinka State (Russia) Quartet for 10 years.

Kolchanova has toured throughout the world, performing at venues including Carnegie Hall in New York City under Zubin Mehta and in cooperative performances with Jessye Norman in France, Italy, Lebanon and Germany.

She taught in Russia at the Moscow Conservatory and its Academic Music College, as well as at the Central Music School.

Currently, Kolchanova is a core regular player with the Portland Opera as well as a substitute with the Oregon Symphony. She has taught at Rose City Music Academy in Portland and Classique Music Academy in Vancouver, as well as the Vancouver School of Arts & Academics, Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Vancouver and Union High School in Camas.

In August 2014, Kolchanova formed the Camas-Washougal Community Orchestra, which meets on Thursdays from 5 to 7 p.m., at Camas United Methodist Church, 706 N.E. 14th Ave.

The orchestra is open to people of all ages and skill levels who want to practice and experience the joy of making music together. Those who would like to participate should bring their own instruments and music stands.

“They are doing such an amazing job,” Kolchanova said. “They are doing real work. They are playing Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi.”

The orchestra will perform a classical music spring concert Saturday, May 16, at 3 p.m., at the church.

For more information about the Music & Arts Academy or the Camas-Washougal Community Orchestra, email Kolchanova at tatianakolchanova@gmail.com, or call (503) 807-3038.