Collective

She was born in the south of Western Siberia, in the mining town of Prokopyevsk in the Kemerovo region. Before attending the Prokopyevsk Music College (now the Prokopyevsk Regional College of Arts named after People's Artist of the Russian Federation D.A. Hvorostovsky), she studied Russian national musical culture with great enthusiasm as a child. She particularly fell in love with the domra, an instrument with which she associated her creative destiny. Musical education continued at the Petrozavodsk branch of the Leningrad State Conservatory named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov (since 1991 the branch has become an independent educational institution – the Petrozavodsk State Conservatory named after A.K. Glazunov), in the class of Honored Artist of Karelia, Professor N.P. Klimenko. After graduating from the conservatory, since 1986 she has been working in the State Academic Russian Orchestra named after V.V.Andreev.

Elena Dernova is a master of ensemble music-making and regularly performs as part of the soloist ensembles of the Andreevsky Orchestra. She shares his extensive performance background with the Okhtinsky Center for Aesthetic Education pupils and the next generation of symphony musicians. Among her students are laureates of regional and all-Russian competitions.