Get to know TanyaWhat are you doing in school?
"I am majoring in vocal performance, and thinking about majoring or minoring in Italian.” How long have you been singing in choirs? "Since elementary school, though it only got serious in Middle School because of our fabulous chorus teacher, Paul Heinemann! That’s when I was proud to say I was in the top choir which was quite advanced for its age." What is your favorite musical memory? “At least for this year, it has been performing a pants role: Captain Silvio in Bizet’s Le Docteur Miracle. I got to walk and dance funny, tell horrible jokes and puns – all while wearing a silly pair of Groucho Marx glasses with a large nose and mustache! I got to be my weird, crazy self on stage and make everyone laugh!" Do you have any special talents or interests outside of music? “I am a competitive ballroom dancer and fencer. I currently compete as part of University of Maryland’s Ballroom Club and Fencing Club.” Who is your favorite composer? Why? "These type of questions are the worst because I have an eclectic taste and am indecisive. But I’ll bite. Mozart, of course, but Beethoven and I share a birthday so I can never say no to him. Then there’s Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti whose music makes my heart melt. And Vivaldi! (I’m a sucker for string music.) I have to give a shout out to my Russian composers, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Then again, no pianist moves me like Chopin, who I can listen to for days… In other words, I cannot possibly pick a favorite because they all hold a unique place in my heart." Who's your favorite non-classical musical artist? "I listen to almost everything from pop to heavy metal, so once again, I cannot say. Though I will say- I frequently listen to HOT99.5" What song have you not been able to stop listening to? "Long story short there’s no music on my phone currently, so I’ve been listening to Spotify playlists. One I haven’t been able to stop listening to is Italian pop because I miss Italian radio. A particular favorite Italian pop song is L’esercito del selfie by Takagi & Ketra (The army of the selfie) which portrays our generation of selfie monsters who tan from cellphone screen lights and dab too much." What's your favorite book you've read? "There are so many good books! How does one choose? I really loved The Hobbit, The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker, The Mortal Instruments series Cassandra Clare, and Fallen by Lauren Kate. The last impactful book I read though was The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, which I highly recommend!" If you could train your newly acquired pet falcon to steal only one dessert, which would it be? “Well I’d like to think I’d be able to train it to steal any dessert. Oreos are a must!" What's your favorite sports team? “What are sports? …Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko are an amazing team of World Champion Latin dancers.” What were you doing during the summer when you were in middle school? “I went to my chorus teacher’s summer camps for Broadway and classical music. It was a new project of his so it was pretty informal. It’s funny to think that our performance was in the library. Take that librarian! Ain’t no one shushing ME!" What's your favorite thing about singing in Lux? "Lux is such a unique type of choir – unlike anything I’ve experienced. Why did we come together? It’s not a required class. It’s not run by teachers or famous musicians. We’re not getting paid. No one is checking to see if we did our homework. We sing out of love and appreciation for choral music. We operate on a professional level because we want to improve, we want to perfect, we want to make something beautiful. There’s something refreshing in knowing everyone is taking it seriously and putting in their best." What's your favorite song you've sung with Lux? “Second Eve by Ola Gjeilo because it feels like it floats up into the heavens. Its changing harmonies are surprising, yet satisfying and the texture is palpable as your voice weaves among everyone else’s." What's the most interesting fact about you? "I am fluent in English, Russian, Italian…working on French and German.” |
Tanya Malykh has enjoyed two seasons with Lux. She is a junior Vocal Performance major at the University of Maryland. She studies with Prof. Delores Ziegler, as well as two teachers at home. At school, she sings in Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, and Maryland Opera Studio's Opera Chorus. This past year, she sang the role of Captain Silvio in Bizet's Le Docteur Miracle with UMD's undergraduate opera company, Opera Terps. More recently, she covered the role of Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni at Oberlin in Italy. Apart from singing, Tanya is also a competitive ballroom dancer and fencer, still trying to figure out how to combine all three...
News & UpdatesThursday, December 14 through Sunday, December 17
NSO and UMD Chamber Singers: Handel's Messiah Kennedy Center, Washington, DC |