Anna Galtschenko

My name is Anna, I'm 21 years old and I'm in the fifth semester of studying jazz singing at the Folkwang UdK in Essen. I am very grateful for the opportunity to take part in this year's Young Talent Jazz Award. I started taking classical piano lessons when I was five years old and it became clear relatively quickly that I was more drawn to singing. I then started singing relatively quickly in a Ukrainian children's choir and then had individual lessons at the age of 10. When I was around 13 I came across jazz and became fascinated by it. I started singing standards and of course transcribing Chet Baker. At the moment I would say I'm orienting myself a lot towards Norma Winstone and the modern jazz published by ECM. I try to compose in this direction, as well as incorporating classical, Latin American elements and vocalizations, like in one of my favorite albums 'Aqui' by Tatjana Parra and Andres Beeuwsaert.
At YTJA I want to showcase the versatility of my music. It is important to me to sing compositions without lyrics and thus reach people. I find the effect of this very interesting, as the voice then acts as a non-verbal instrument and language is no longer used as a means of communication.
I am really looking forward to the evening and am excited to meet the other participants.

What particularly fascinates you about music? In general, I am fascinated by the diversity and change in music. In jazz alone there are so many different subcategories and genres and all of this is understood as 'jazz'. I find it incredibly exciting how much music exists in the world, with its own facets and cultural differences, so that everyone can find themselves somewhere. For me, this is a phenomenon that can bring people together on an infinite number of levels.

Which musician has personally influenced you the most so far? It's quite difficult for me to relate to one musician because so many musicians influence me in a variety of areas and genres. In classical music, Chopin particularly inspires me and I loved playing his works.
When I first started singing jazz, I particularly listened to and sang a lot of Chet Baker, Joni Mitchell, Carmen Mcrae and Thelonious Monk. Chet Baker's solos really shaped my language and improved my improvisation. Keith Jarrett is one of my favorite pianists and I try to incorporate elements of his playing into my compositions as much as I can.

Which band/soloists have you always wanted to be on stage with? There are also a lot of musicians here that I admire and would like to play with. At the forefront is Kenny Wheeler's Large Ensemble, as I'm listening to and singing a lot of contemporary jazz at the moment. I find every single composition from the album ''Music For Large And Small Ensembles'' unique and of course Norma Winstone's singing inspires and touches me a lot. I would also love to play in a duo with Richie Beirach as I am fascinated by his musical choices and think I could learn an endless amount from him.

What is your life like outside of music? Most of my life consists of music, but I try to bring balance into my everyday life. For example, I exercise regularly and I have a small dog. I am also interested in psychology and political content on the subject of feminism and racism.
I maintain friendships with various people inside and outside of the jazz scene.