Viktoriya Solyana is a Ukrainian pianist, educator, and researcher in music and performance studies. She holds a Master’s degree from the Kyiv National Music Academy of Ukraine (2006) and a PhD in the History of Arts (Music, Piano) from the Odesa National Music Academy (2013). Her doctoral dissertation focused on Leopold Godowsky’s arrangements of Chopin Etudes, offering a critical educational, pianistic, and historical evaluation of these works.
Her PhD research also examined early 20th-century approaches to pianism, particularly the concept of “mental technique”—a pedagogical model prioritizing ear training, inner hearing, and cognitive sound control over purely mechanical practice. This perspective continues to inform her broader interest in music cognition, psychoacoustics, sound perception, embodiment, and performance science.
More recently, Viktoriya’s research has expanded toward the intersection of Western classical pedagogy and Arabic musical traditions, with a special focus on meter perception across cultures. She presented this work at the IC CIPEM International Conference (Porto, 2021). She has also presented at the Psychology and Music Conference, University of Arts Belgrade (2019, poster session), and has participated in major international forums including the SME Commission on Research in Music Education, Canadian University Dubai (2018), the ICMPC15/ESCOM10 Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, University of Graz (2018), and the Music and Drama Education Expo, London (2016).
Alongside her research, Viktoriya has maintained an active career as a piano pedagogue since 2005. She began teaching in Kyiv both privately and as adjunct faculty in music schools, and since 2009 has been based in the United Arab Emirates, combining performance with pedagogy. She has extensive experience preparing students from diverse cultural backgrounds—ranging from beginners to LTCL diploma candidates—for ABRSM and Trinity College London examinations.
Her research has also been disseminated through several academic publications addressing pianism, pedagogy, and performance analysis.
Selected Publications
Solyana, V. Western Music Education vs. Arabic Music: A Curious Case of Categorical Meter Perception in Emirati Song. Presented at IC CIPEM, Porto, Portugal, 2021. Under review with Cross-Cultural Research (Sage Journals).
Solyana, V.V. Performing Philosophy of Leopold Godowsky and its Role in Piano Art Development in the 20th Century. In Proceedings of the Xth International Scientific Conference: Young Musicologists of Ukraine, Muzychne Mystestvo, Donetsk–Lviv: South-East, Vol. 9, pp. 153–160, 2009.
Solyana, V.V. About Pedagogical Targets and Principles of L. Godowsky’s Piano School. In Proceedings of the Ukraine Scientific Conference on Music Art of Ukraine: Science, Performance, Education, Kyivske Muzykoznavstvo, Vol. 29, pp. 108–117, 2009.
Solyana, V.V. “Intellectual Pianism” of the First Quarter of the 20th Century: System of Principles. In Proceedings of the Ukraine Scientific Conference: Intonational Space of Music Art, Kyivske Muzykoznavstvo: Culturology and Musicology, Vol. 36, pp. 116–123, 2011.
Solyana, V.V. F. Chopin’s Etude Op. 25 No. 5 Through L. Godowsky’s Eyes: Dramaturgical Aspect. In Proceedings of the XIth Scientific Conference of the Ukrainian Society of Music Analysis: Dramaturgical Potential of a Music Piece, Naukovyi Visnyk NMAU, Vol. 103, pp. 146–152, 2012.
Solyana, V.V. Textural Transformation of an Original Author Text as an Artistic Method for Working on Music Pieces: Example of F. Chopin’s Etude Op. 25 No. 2 in L. Godowsky’s Version. In Proceedings of the XIIth Scientific Conference of the Ukrainian Society of Music Analysis: Spatio-Temporal Organization of Texture in the Music Art Polyphony, Muzychne Mystestvo, Donetsk–Lviv: South-East, Vol. 12, pp. 197–207, 2012.