Olga Reznichenko

Jazz pianist and composer Olga Reznichenko sounds out the extremes of inspiration with an inexhaustible effervescence. Her intuitive style sees her react instinctively to musical stimuli, with the desire to hammer away at her instrument – almost as if she wished to destroy it – equally as valid as finding pleasure in more gentle, tranquil timbres. Reznichenko’s eponymous trio combines complex harmonic and rhythmic structures with a simple, almost minimalistic texture and accessible melodies. Her compositions also reflect her distinctive feel for aesthetic. Generally born out of improvisation, Reznichenko’s pieces give her unfiltered, intuitive enthusiasm for musical expression the space it needs to unlock her full creative potential.  

Born in the Russian city of Taganrog in 1989, Olga Reznichenko begins her training as a classical pianist at the age of eight. After a number of years of intensive study, her attention is suddenly drawn to the jazz pupils at her music school, who learn, practice and rehearse under the same roof and exude a certain air of nonchalance when hanging out in the corridors. Out of nowhere, a fire of jazz ignites within her and urges her fingers to search the keys of the piano for new modes of expression. Defying her parents’ initial suspicion of all things jazz, the pubescent Reznichenko secretly shifts the focus of her training to jazz piano. Her lessons are one-and-a-half hours away in Rostow-on-Don, and for the next six months she is a clandestine commuter between two worlds, a part-time job as an accompanist for trombone classes financing her train tickets. There is conflict when her family finally finds out, but a truce is reached and her parents come to realise that their daughter’s natural curiosity and enthusiasm are more at home in the world of jazz. In 2008 she passes the entrance exam for jazz piano at the S.W. Rachmaninoff Rostov State Conservatory. Four years later, in 2012, Olga Reznichenko follows her fellow student, the jazz saxophonist Evgeny Ring, to the University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig. Her decision to make the switch is swayed by her desire to explore the European jazz scene – as well as a fascination with Europe’s Gothic churches and the prospect of an expansive network of pothole-free cycle tracks. Reznichenko studies under professors Richie Beirach and Michael Wollny, earning a Bachelor of Music before opting to stay in Leipzig and add a Master of Music to it. With inspiring modern Russian composers such as Rachmaninoff in her heart, she soaks up her new environment and dives deep into the European jazz scene, forming the band Sophia&Olga with jazz singer Sophia Bicking. Initial performances at prestigious venues and events such as X-Jazz 2014 are followed by the release of their debut album, Shells in Motion, in 2017. That year the duo also takes second place at the Sparda Jazz Awards at the Dusseldorf Jazz Rally. Drawing on the jazz traditions of the 1960s as well as traditional elements, Reznichenko’s quintet Ylativ Algo experiments with the build-up and release of tension and won the GETXO Jazz Competition in Spain in 2014. More recently, Reznichenko performed alongside Theresia Philipp (ts), Robert Lucaciu (db) and Philipp Scholz (dr) under the name A Word is a Swallow at the 2021 edition of the Südtirol Jazzfestival. She is also a member of the Leipzig-based contemporary big band Spielvereinigung Sued and played on the debut album by Nuremberg-based drummer Maximilian Breu. Other band projects such as Space Shuttle and Oluma occasionally see Reznichenko enter a euphoric state as she weaves her synth into the soundscape. Looking ahead, the debut album by the Olga Reznichenko Trio is due to be released by prestigious label Traumton Records in 2022. Whether at the keys or as a curator at a number of Leipzig-based music festivals, Olga Reznichenko is helping shape the future of the German jazz scene.