Polina Shepherd: Cultural activist, Singer, Composer, Choir leader

From Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman Leah Roseman

I was honoured to speak with the inspiring singer, composer, choir leader, pianist and cultural activist Polina Shepherd. In this episode you’ll hear Polina’s stories from growing up in Tartarstan, in the former Soviet Union, finding a bridge to her Jewish identity through Klezmer music, collaborating with her mentors, founding Yiddish and Russian choirs in the U.K., and many other creative projects. During the episode she sings songs from different traditions, including one of her compositions, and is such a warm and engaging speaker I trust a wide audience will find inspiration and food for thought in her perspectives on education, mentorship, creativity, health, identity, connection and collaboration.

The link for both the podcast and video is linked with the full transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/polina-shepherd Her website https://www.polinashepherd.co.uk/

If you are specifically interested in Klezmer music, you may be interested in previous episodes with Alicia Svigals, Josh “Socalled” Dolgin, and Marilyn Lerner.

Please encourage me to keep this series going. https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

photo credit: Shendl Copitman

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:01:27) connecting through music, COVID, Sing With Me workshops

(00:05:14) Polina’s childhood, family music-making

(00:07:16) intro to Russian Romance by Lermontov and Shashina

(00:10:14) Polina’s musical training and voice

(00:12:16) Tomsk, Kazan, growing up in Tartarstan, Jewish community, perestroika

(00:16:27) Yiddish song, Polina sings “A Frisher Vind” Dovid Hofshsteyn poetry

(00:21:31) secular Yiddish culture, song cycle with poems of Troim Katz Handler

(00:24:11) falling in love with Merlin Shepherd, experience of immigration to the UK