Glinka Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatoire

Glinka Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatoire is one of the major centers of musical culture in Russia. The conservatoire boasts a multi-level system of music education from the preparatory department to PhD degrees. Its graduates are in demand in the international education market. Most of them continue to work in their degree field at universities, music schools, colleges, theaters, and philharmonics. 

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VK – @nnovcons

Advantages

• Unique geographical location. NNSC is located in the very heart of the city of Nizhny Novgorod (400 km from Moscow), within walking distance of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin and the Volga River Embankment. 
• High-quality education. More than 200 teachers, including professors and associate professors, doctors of sciences and candidates of sciences, and teachers with honorary titles and awards.
• Resources. 2 concert halls, concert and practice organs, 4 orchestras, an academic choir, an opera studio and a recording studio, student radio, a dormitory, and a gym.
• Vibrant creative life. More than 200 concerts every year, international and all-Russian festivals, competitions, Olympiads, and science and art projects. 
• Students’ involvement in the cultural life of the city. NNSC students have the opportunity not only to attend concerts and performances at the Mstislav Rostropovich Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Philharmonic, the Alexander Pushkin Opera and Ballet Theater, the Vladimir Stepanov Nizhny Novgorod Chamber Musical Theater, the Maxim Gorky Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Drama Theater, the Nizhny Novgorod Comedy Theater, the Volga-Vyatka branch of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts as well as exhibitions at exhibition halls, the Nizhny Novgorod State Museum of Art, and the Nizhny Novgorod Reserve Museum of History and Architecture but also participate in them.

Entrance exams 

• Bachelor’s and Specialist’s programs: creative test; interview; professional test; Russian; Literature.
• Master’s programs: creative test in a major subject; interview.
• Assistantship programs: entrance exams in a special subject: 1. performance (presentation) of the creative program (project); 2. interview (colloquium); Russian; Philosophy.
• PhD programs: interview on the admission synopsis (subject of the thesis); colloquium: Musical Art; Philosophy; Russian.

At Glinka NNSC, foreign citizens are offered full-time education in the following fields of study at different degree levels:

Bachelor’s programs (4 years)

• Instrumental Music Performance (majors: Piano; Orchestral String Instruments; Orchestral Wind and Percussion Instruments; Bayan, Accordion, and Fretted Instruments; National Instruments of the Peoples of Russia)
• Musicology and Applied Musical Arts (majors: Music Pedagogy; Music Journalism and Editorial Activities in Mass Media)

Specialist’s programs (5 years)

• Acting (major: Music Theater Actor);
• Concert Performance (majors: Piano; Organ, Harpsichord, Historical Clavier; Concert String Instruments; Concert Wind and Percussion Instruments; Concert Folk Instruments)
• Music and Theater Arts (major: Opera Singing)

Master’s programs (2 years)

• Instrumental Music Performance (majors: Piano; Orchestral String Instruments (Violin, Alto, Double Bass, Harp); Orchestral Wind and Percussion Instruments; Bayan, Accordion, and Fretted Instruments (Domra, Balalaika, Guitar)
• Vocal Performance (major: Classical Singing)
• Musicology and Applied Musical Arts (majors: Music Pedagogy (Music Art Education); Music Journalism and Editorial Activities in Mass Media)

Assistantship programs (2 years)

• Art of Instrumental Music Performance (majors: Piano Solo Performance; Piano Ensemble Performance; Piano Concertmaster Performance; Organ Solo Performance; String Instruments Ensemble Performance; String Instruments Solo Performance; Wind Instruments Solo Performance; Percussion Instruments Solo Performance; Bayan Solo Performance; Accordion Solo Performance; Fretted Instruments Solo Performance)
• Art of Vocal Performance (major: Classical Singing)

PhD programs (3 years)

• Arts (Musical Arts) – the level of training of highly qualified personnel. 

Preparatory Department 

Glinka NNSC prepares foreign citizens for admission to the first year of study at different degree levels (Specialist’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD, and assistantship programs).

Training is provided on a fee-paying basis.

Duration: 10 months (September 1 - June 30) 

Study format: offline

To be considered for admission to the preparatory department, you must send a video recording of yourself performing the compositions and the completed application form to nngk.id@yandex.ru.

The program requirements and application form are available on the conservatoire website: www.nnovcons.ru.

If a positive admission decision is made, the preparatory department applicant signs the study contract. Students are provided with dormitory accommodation throughout the study period.

International Music Olympiad

Glinka NNSC organizes the International Music Olympiad. It is held annually in March in seven study areas such as choral conducting, music pedagogy and performance, theory and history of music, orchestral folk instruments, string instruments, piano, and wind instruments. 

The winners and prize-winners get the highest score in major subjects when taking entrance exams. In 2026, 3,402 young musicians from 55 Russian and foreign educational institutions took part in the qualifying round of the Olympiad.

Science 

• The conservatoire has a dissertation council that confers a degree of PhD in Art History and Criticism and Doctor of Art History and Criticism.
• NNSC holds more than 30 conferences and festivals every year.
• Every year the teachers publish monographs and research papers with a total volume of more than 100 printed sheets.
• The conservatoire has an editorial advisory board, the Education Quality Center, and the Glinka Media Prototyping Center, a platform for shared and individual use with special-purpose equipment for developing creative entrepreneurship.