Svetlana's passion for classical music has been lifelong: She first picked up the violin at age 6 and has been playing it ever since. Svetlana's diverse interests within the field of classical music culminated in her attainment of Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Music College and State Music Conservatory in her native Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Her specializations included violin performance, chamber and quartet class, and violin education. Always striving to push her performance and instruction level higher, she immigrated to the United States in 2005. In 2007 she participated in Oberlin Conservatory's Summer Baroque Performance Institute where she studied with Marilyn McDonald and Mark Destrube. She attained her Doctorate in Musical Arts from Michigan State University (MSU) in 2014, under the instruction of Dr. Walter Verdehr in the violin and Prof. Yuri Gandelsman in the viola. Svetlana is currently based in Novi, Michigan, where she teaches from her own Strings Arts Studio.  In 2018, Svetlana joined the faculty at Schoolcraft College with her String Chamber Ensemble and applied violin & viola classes.

While in the United States, Svetlana has performed with several Michigan orchestras including the Michigan Opera Theatre,  Flint Symphony Orchestra, and more. She has been a member of Flint Symphony since 2006. She is also a founding member of the Fantasy Strings Trio, which collaborated with the band and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Heart in 2011 for a performance at Caesar's Casino in Windsor. In 2017, she was accompanied by the Livonia Symphony Orchestra in her performance of the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, (op. 26, G minor). Want to learn more about about Svetlana's performing experience, and book or collaborate with her?

In 2014 Svetlana and Natalia Tokar (piano) recorded a CD with selected works from Robert Schumann at Blue Griffin Recording Studio. The CD  is titled “Schumann’s Enigma: An Exploration of Robert Schumann’s Sonatas for Violin and Piano.” The work contains performances of Schumann's violin and piano sonatas op. 105 and op. 121 that reveal deep, hidden layers of these works through the unconventional, sensitive approach of the performers. It also includes a booklet with extensive annotations authored by Svetlana herself that explore the coding of Schumann's name in his works, as well as offering evidence of the presence of the composer's alter egos Florestan and Eusebius in them. Svetlana's playing and original research have been praised by WholeNote writer and critic Terry Robbins. Want to listen to sample tracks from the work or purchase it?