Anna Vilenskaya
Musicologist, public speaker. Based in the US, performing worldwide.
I combined serious musicology with a comedy, and it worked.
Trusted by Audiences Worldwide
300+
Lectures
72
Cities Around the World
3.9M+
Top Interview Views
Hi, I'm Anna
I'm a professional musicologist without any academic dust.
When I was a student, my professors told us that ordinary people would never understand the intricacies of music theory.
I decided to change that.
I decided to find a way to show people music through the eyes of a professional, and do it with joy and pleasure.
So I began my experiments. I started adding illustrations and animations, interactive exercises, and jokes to my lectures. It was an unexpected success. Now I organize musicology shows for large audiences and challenge perceptions of traditional musicology.
________
I regularly speak to audiences ranging from 30 to 500+ people. If I organize a series of lectures, word of mouth in the city means that by the fifth lecture, we have increased the number of attendees tenfold. I attract students to the Philharmonic and libraries.
Read the full biography on Wikipedia
Testimonials
Students & Organizers
I accidentally turned on Anna's lecture and couldn't turn it off. I've never been interested in music theory, but it turned out to be incredibly interesting.
Maria S.
Student
What Anna does cannot be called a traditional lecture. It is a show, a concert, a performance in which you don't notice that you are learning complex things because you are too busy laughing!
Anton Ovechkin
US Tour Organizer
I always thought that a musicologist was someone who sat in an archive. I'm shocked that serious musicology can be entertaining without descending into pop science.
Elena K.
Workshop Attendee
Topics
What interests me most about music is how it affects the listener, what chords and rhythms make us cry, sing, or dance. And I can explain it scientifically.
Speaking Topics Offer Text
I love it when organizers suggest research topics for me. Feel free to suggest any topic, and I will conduct an exclusive study for you. This allows me to expand my range of topics and explore areas of music that I have not previously considered.
You can also invite me to read any topic from my existing materials.
2026 Spring World Tour Topics
Hit or hype? Interactive Lecture
Paris
Music and Money
Lisbon
How electronic music gradually changed people's hearing
Porto, Stuttgart, Almaty
Bach: great, but in what way?
Hamburg
Pink Floyd and psychedelic rock: what was it?
Frankfurt
Background Music
Frankfurt
Musical Ear: User Manual
Luxemburg, Almaty
Music for Miyazaki's animated films
Tokyo
K-pop song recipe
Seoul
Videos
I prefer to post live lectures rather than specially recorded material.
I believe that in this era of scripts and prompter, YouTube could use a little bit of life and drive.
Russian Music History. From Ancient to Soviet
Public Talk at Carnegie Mellon University.
Fall 2025
Trusted by YouTube Audiences
300K+
Subscribers
on my Russian Channel
1.9M
Most Popular
Video on the Channel
Russian Classical Music
Public Lecture Series at the NYC Public Library
Winter 2025
Modest Mussorgsky: politics, bells and the avant-garde
Rimsky-Korsakov: the sea, scales and fairy tales
Mikhail Glinka: how he invented Russian music
Youtube Comments
AI Summarized
“Inspiring, insightful, and engaging. Anna’s talk changed how I hear music.”
Maria S.
Student
“Even in Russian, the message was universal. The subtitles made everything clear.”
Daniel R.
Conference Organizer
“Every session is a masterclass in both content and delivery.”
Elena K.
Workshop Attendee
Work With Me
Four distinct tracks for collaboration.
For Institutions
Thematic lectures before concerts, lectures and courses on music theory and history. Educational videos and podcasts for your social media.
For Corporations
Lectures for your employees, consultations on sound design for your business, drafting technical specifications for the composers you work with.
For Private Clients
Personal consultations, master classes on music analysis, music education, and any topics of interest to you, private lectures.
For Media / Press
Column, comments, etc
Ready to partner?
Let’s discuss how I can help your team or event.
Anna Vilenskaya
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Anna
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