Neonila Lagodyuk

Neonila Lagodyuk was born in the city of Boguslav in the Kyiv region. At the age of five she went to music school. After an article "Wunderkind Child" in the newspaper "Vechirnii Kyiv", Professor B.E. Milich, author of the famous "Piano" textbooks, suggested that Lagodyuk should study with him. Then brilliantly graduated from M.V. Lysenko's ten-year school. In the musical decade the author studied piano with famous teachers Y.L. Budnitska and E.V. Freinkin, and also studied composition in the class of V.M. Kucherov - then she began to write classical miniatures. After school, having overplayed her hand, Neonila Grygoriivna studied at the Conservatory for a year at the Glier College with O. M. Konershtein. At the age of seventeen, the future composer became interested in jazz. She listened to records of the best jazz musicians in the world, recorded improvisations and played them. Then she began teaching in the pop department of the K.G. Stetsenko Evening School of Music No. 1.

Neonila Lagodyuk received her higher music education at the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts in 1997. That same year she began to write music in a variety of styles all the time, and not only for the piano. Among her strengths is her very extensive pianistic experience. The list of Neonila's many solo performances includes concerts at the Italian and U.S. embassies, the Jos and Flamingo nightclubs. Her skills were praised by former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual: "Neonila is a brilliant musician with an extraordinary ability to bring her music to her listeners.... Her music reflects the technical skills and exquisite craftsmanship of an accomplished performer.".

Neonila Lagodyuk is the author of Ukraine's first jazz textbook, "Jazz Performance Schools" (2002), built entirely on the author's material and designed for students in grades 3-7 of music schools. She is also an author of various compilations of jazz and pop music aimed at development of musical abilities and performing technique: "Jazz etudes with improvisation" (2005), "Jazz and pop compositions for piano" (2007), "Merry jazz" (2009), "Jazz and pop pieces for saxophone and piano" (2010), "Jazz piano ensembles" (2010), "Jazz minutes" (2012) and others.

As a composer, teacher and performer, Neonila Lagodyuk's works are widely covered in the media - newspapers ("Culture ! Life", "Weekend"), radio programs (First and Second Programs of Ukrainian Radio, Radio "Renaissance"), on television (TRK "Kyiv", NTN, ICTV, 1+1, Khreshyatyk 26).Her "Ballad of the Queen of England" has been heard on BBC Ukraine, BBC World, BBC 3.
"Neonila is a fantastic woman who creates the culture of Ukraine," said Iryna Bondarenko, a well-known music radio journalist, about her. "Each of her topics could be a topic for improvisation" - jazz journalist Oleksii Kogan.
In March 2009 at the invitation of Stockholm University, N. Lagodyuk gave several master classes and a recital at the music department and at the Orpheus Children's Music School.
The composer's innovativeness and professionalism have been praised by the Piano Department of the Stockholm Academy of Music. She has also recorded solo CDs of his own works - "Original Jazz Compositions for Piano" (2002), "Only Piano" (2005), and "Dylizhans" (2008).
There are articles about N. Lagodyuk's work in the first edition of the Biographical Encyclopedia of Successful People of Ukraine (2012) and in the State Awards of Ukraine "Cavaliers and Laureates" 2019.