Born on February 2, 1937 at Chaplino station, Dnepropetrovsk region. Father - Strelchenko Ilya Evgenievich (1911-1941). Mother - Polina Pavlovna Strelchenko (1916-1945).
It is difficult for a performer on the modern stage to find his own, the only thing that no one except him will say, see, or reveal to the listener new page in your chosen genre. However, it was always not easy. And among the huge number of artists who have dedicated their work to Russian song, the art of Alexandra Strelchenko stands out especially. Not only with bright talent, but also with a thoughtful, subtle approach to musical material, the ability to see in the modest and unpretentious the depth and poetry of feelings, the beauty of the soul of the people who created and preserved their unfading songs.
“She herself is like a Russian song!” - this phrase, said by one of the listeners after Alexandra Strelchenko’s concert, is worth many multi-page reviews. She accurately and figuratively characterizes the impression you get when listening to her performance of ancient and modern Russian songs. The image of a woman created by her on stage is akin to the songs she sings. Modest and proud, kind and strong, gentle and loving - this is how she appears.
Alexandra Strelchenko absorbed her love for the song with her mother’s milk. Everyone in the family sang: father, mother, sisters. They loved listening to records. The first bright and unforgettable impression of Russian folk song associated with the name of Lydia Andreevna Ruslanova. The wonderful artist captivated me with her dazzling beauty and truth, and captivated me with her spiritual generosity. Therefore, the dream of becoming a singer captured little Sasha from childhood. But fate decreed otherwise...
In the first year of the war, my father died at the front, and in 1945, unable to withstand the severity of inhuman trials, my mother died. What was left was the starvation orphanhood of three little ones (there was also a sister and brother nearby), then an orphanage, after the war, a school... With a touchingly clear voice, the girl publicly performed her first, memorable from start to finish, popular songs for the first time. Soviet songs“Lonely Accordion” by B. Mokrousov (poems by M. Isakovsky) and “Eaglet” by V. Bely (poems by Ya. Shvedov). Now Alexandra Ilyinichna remembers that only the song was her friend, her real support, in difficult years. Small, thin, snub-nosed, freckled - who will notice her? And when he sings, they will ask for more, and not only will they pay attention, feed him, but also say a kind word about what a person may need most of all...
After graduating from school, Alexandra worked as a nanny for several months kindergarten, and then decided to enter the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute - she was sure that she could become a good teacher, give people what she herself was deprived of. She entered the correspondence department, but she never became a certified teacher.
In the winter of 1958, she came to Leningrad to take a test. At that time Voronezhsky was touring there folk choir. The concert stirred my soul so much and stirred up a seemingly forgotten dream of becoming a singer that Alexandra could not resist, went backstage and said: “Take me with you, I want to sing!” During the intermission, the directors, almost the entire choir, listened to it, and the decision was to take it. “Come to Voronezh,” they said. She went without the slightest hesitation and, with lightning speed, to the surprise of choirmaster V. Efimov, having quickly learned all the parts in all the songs, a month later she appeared on stage for the first time as an equal participant in a professional choir. It seemed life path decided. However, more tests were destined, and very serious ones.
Excessive passion for singing in a choir, inexperience, and inability to take care of oneself in a tense and often loud choral manner led to such an overload of the vocal cords that the singer, who had just begun her career, was forced to give up singing, and, it seemed, forever. But time became not only a healer for physical illness, but also made it possible to understand her mistakes, and the desire to sing was so great that Alexandra, having again worked for some time in kindergarten, returned to continue her modestly begun artistic path.
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Lipetsk Philharmonic, where it was created at that moment youth group, became not only a place for three years of solo work (1959-1962), but also provided an opportunity for more serious studies and professional development. From the Lipetsk Philharmonic, Alexandra Strelchenko left for the first time in Moscow to the All-Russian Creative Workshop pop art for a one-year internship and training concert programs. The vocal class was then led by People's Artist of the RSFSR Irma Petrovna Yaunzem, a subtle performer folk songs and a person of amazing soul, who treated the young in a motherly manner and zealously defended their interests. Perhaps, not only or not so much did she teach her pupils vocal skills, but she tried to instill in them musical, artistic, human culture, broaden their horizons, and instill a taste for art in general.
Strelchenko managed to make the necessary efforts to take what was offered. This allowed her to stay in Moscow and, having passed the competition at Moskontsert, begin hard way its soloists are performers of Russian songs. On this path, gradually there were fewer and fewer defeats, all more success. What helped was a stubborn desire to sing, a growing understanding of the need for daily painstaking work, a desire to realize oneself, to find the only right direction. The correctness of the chosen road was proven by the victory at International competition in Sofia during IX World Festival youth and students in 1968. For the performance of Russian folk songs (most of them were sung without accompaniment, and this, as is known, is the most difficult type of music-making and a real test), Alexandra Strelchenko won a gold medal and first prize.
One after another, new programs were born - folk songs, new songs by Soviet composers, ancient, forgotten, but beautiful songs were resurrected, becoming a real revelation in her performance. Stable, well-deserved success came, then the honorary title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1972), and most importantly, her own circle of listeners was formed, filling the halls of Moscow and other cities of the country. And against the backdrop of this already defined success, it was necessary to show courage and have a passionate desire to improve in order to pass exams and study at the Gnessin Musical Pedagogical Institute (1976-1980).
However, Alexandra Strelchenko was not only looking for a diploma, she was striving for the world Big music, within which I wanted to determine and feel the position of my musical circle, their interconnection, their unity. It was these efforts that raised the singer to another level as a musician and brought her to the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra All-Union Radio and Television under the leadership of V. Fedoseev. People's Artist Alexandra Ilyinichna considers the USSR Vladimir Ivanovich Fedoseev and Honored Artist of Russia Olga Ivanovna Dobrokhotova to be her first teachers and mentors, who opened up her amazing world classical music. She became interested in Wagner, later the feeling of Debussy came, Mussorgsky and Borodin, concerts in Great hall conservatories have become a necessary part of life, and not because there were good friends- violist, violinist, singer or conductor - her soul acquired the natural ability to live in the vast musical world, pushing the boundaries of their previous professional domains. And regular classes at the vocal department (folk faculty) with E.K. Gedevanova and L.L. Bazilevich, even before graduating from the institute, was not slow to affect her intense concert activities. Remembering these relatively recent years, A.I. Strelchenko says that although it was very difficult, she was happy with the many artistic discoveries that came to her.
This is how her artistic appearance is formed, her taste is formed. She works more and more enthusiastically, year after year her creative search becomes more interesting and the torment of a critical attitude towards herself becomes stronger. All my knowledge, artistic sensations, understanding of Russian traditions artistic life and traditions of high folk art, everything that the singer receives from life, people, country, she strives to give everything in her work, understanding this not as a duty, but as a necessary spiritual need.
The singer’s varied programs introduce listeners to a special and at the same time recognizable world, as if after long wanderings a person returns to his father’s roof and, inhaling his native half-forgotten smells, re-enters the land of grandmother’s tales, lullabies, purity and transparency spring water childhood. Such associations are evoked by the songs that the singer selects for her repertoire. Her performances include authentic folklore and folk songs and compositions. modern composers. But only those based on the intonation inherent in folk melody. Because the main theme of A. Strelchenko’s work is love for the Motherland, for its forests and vast expanses, for people whose work creates glory for the land dear to the heart, for its past, present and future.
That is why business card Alexandra Strelchenko became the song “I Love My Land” by E. Ptichkin with lyrics by V. Kharitonov. One of the singer’s programs is also named. The high civic feeling expressed through lyrical means is close to the performer’s worldview. “The earth is my joy, my favorite song,” she admits her sincere feelings for native land, but does it not for show, but modestly and chastely, with extraordinary dignity. The singer is alien to excessiveness, loudness and self-presentation of a beautiful, strong voice. On the contrary, in the most climactic moments it seems to muffle the flight and sonority of the singing. And this creates a dramatic effect and enlarges the musical idea of the song.
A. Strelchenko carefully and thoughtfully selects his repertoire. Having fallen in love with a song, he does not part with it for a long time, making it popular. But the singer is also recognized by the first bars of the musical introduction - these are Strelchenko’s songs. How many of them did she give a start in life! And after it, it’s difficult for another performer to turn to the same musical material without repeating the singer’s discoveries. She selects everything from the composition, finds such colors and shades that sometimes even the creators of the songs discover novelty and ambiguity in them.
The singer's talent is fueled by juices native land. That is why the memory and tribute to those gifted performers of the past who developed Russian song are so strong in her. Alexandra Strelchenko’s recordings and concerts feature songs by Nadezhda Plevitskaya (for example, “Pock-marked Hens,” “The Sea Spreads Wide,” “Be Silent,”) Lydia Ruslanova (“Oh, Mosquitoes,” “Saratov Sufferings,” “On the Murom Path” and etc.), gussal singer Nikolai Seversky ("Oh, love, how evil you are", "About the old days"), Olga Kovaleva ("Grandfather", "On the mountain there is a viburnum", "Two flowers on the window", suffering - “I remember what happened”, “My dudar”, “Oh, bloom, curly rowan”, “I have a secret friend”, “The Volga river is deep”, etc.).
The performing arts of Olga Vasilievna Kovaleva became especially close to the artist. Despite all the dissimilarity of creative individuals, many things have in common with them, and above all, a careful, chaste attitude towards Russian musical folklore, the same understanding of modernity in the life of ancient and new song, which does not allow the slightest alteration or distortion of the melody, rhythm, character, special sympathy for songs glorifying the Motherland and songs that reveal wealth spiritual world Russian woman.
A characteristic feature of Alexandra Strelchenko’s performances is that she not only collects and performs folk songs, but also colorfully comments on them in concerts. For example, the performance of small suites composed by her from Kursk, Vyatka, historical, ritual songs (the suite of wedding songs is especially successful - from the crying of the bride to the final, drinking songs after the wedding) she precedes with a story about traditions, continuity, and the need to carefully preserve these musical monuments of national culture.
Strelchenko's performing style allowed her to come into contact with a new range of music for her - urban song, ancient romance. The simplicity and simplicity of execution made these first steps noticeable and successful. Together with a sextet of orchestra soloists Bolshoi Theater she recorded romances: “In a difficult moment of life” by P. Bulakhov (poems by M. Lermontov), “I won’t tell you anything” by T. Tolstoy (poems by A. Fet), “Stars in the sky” by V. Borisov (poems by E. Diterichs ), "What is this heart..." by J. Prigozhego, the old gypsy romance "I'm in love with the same eyes" by A. Vilinsky (verses by T. Shchepkina-Kupernik, from the repertoire of V. Panina), etc.
A. Strelchenko sings these romances easily, as if humming, although this is where the greatest difficulty lies. Using an alto timbre that seems somewhat boyish, she gives these works great simplicity and youthful purity of feeling. The low notes that some singers sound in the chest register, especially in the romances of Borisov and Tolstoy, provoke a pseudo-passionate nature of the performance and artificiality of the emotional structure. This is probably why A. Strelchenko’s evenness and lightness of sound made these romances nobler.
During her creative youth, she also performed songs by modern composers: “Why did we quarrel” by V. Levashov (poems by N. Palkin), songs by G. Ponomarenko “Motorka, motorka” (poems by V. Bokov), “Where can I get such a song? " and “Give me a scarf” (poems by M. Agashina), “How a white duck flew” (poems by G. Georgiev), “Polars”, “A birch tree grows in Volgograd”, “What happened, happened”, “The golden grove dissuaded” and others. She continues this line of original songs now, collaborating with composers Viktor Temnov, Alexander Morozov and others.
The singer’s rich spiritual life, her genuine interest in the genre of Russian song, her desire to comprehend all the wealth accumulated not only by national, but also by world culture, makes her work international. It is understandable and therefore highly valued on different continents, in different parts of our planet. In France, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Laos and Ceylon, Thailand and Singapore, Alexandra Strelchenko’s performances enjoyed continued success.
In 1984, A.I. Strelchenko was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia. Today she continues the intense but inspired life of an artist, in love with her work. All her work is illuminated by a high desire - for listeners to love Russian song as much as she loves it. Nowadays the singer continues her fruitful collaboration with the Orchestra folk instruments Russia named after N. Osipov under the direction of N. Kalinin, is a member of the song jury and dreams of opening her own creative workshop, where she could pass on experience to young performers.
IN free time Alexandra Ilyinichna is interested in many things: she loves nature, animals, flowers; prefers classical Russian literature, music, ballet, folk melodies, jazz. Her favorite artists are O. Tabakov and N. Mordyukova, I. Arkhipova and A. Vedernikov.
Lives and works in Moscow.
The whole country was shocked by the news that Strelchenko was hospitalized with a stroke. The reason for the sharp deterioration in the singer’s health is the conflict that arose around her apartment in the center of Moscow. The fact is that Alexandra Ilyinichna’s relationship with her student Marina Georginova, with whom the People’s Artist entered into a lifelong annuity agreement in 2014, has seriously deteriorated. The girl received an apartment for 12 million rubles, in return promising care for the elderly star Soviet stage. However, according to Strelchenko, the girl did not fulfill her duties and was rude to her. Now Alexandra Ilyinichna cannot get into own apartment, besides, she no longer wants anything to do with her student and asks for help to terminate the rental agreement.
Marina Georginova came to the studio of the “Let Them Talk” program to voice her point of view on this conflict. Relatives of Alexandra Ilyinichna also came to understand what had happened, none of whom, by the way, for some reason took upon themselves the responsibility of caring for the singer. The editors of the program managed to interview Alexandra Ilyinichna literally two days before she had a stroke. The elderly woman could no longer get out of bed and had difficulty speaking. However, she managed to tell how it happened that she gave her apartment to a student.
// Photo: Fragment of the program “Let Them Talk”
“My legs hurt, I couldn’t walk. I was in a hopeless situation and needed help. Marina came to study in Moscow. And she persuaded me to sign the agreement, I really persuaded him. She quickly got it done and I signed the contract. They told me that if I don’t like it, I have the right to terminate the contract,” Strelchenko said. - I signed the agreement of my own free will, no one forced me. All my relatives are elderly. My sister is already elderly. It would be hard for her. She is 80 years old."
Alexandra Ilyinichna’s friend Natalya Rodetskaya said that her niece Natalya looked after her. However, Marina Georginova, who appeared in the studio, refuted this opinion. “I entered into an agreement with a person whom I love, appreciate and respect very much,” the singer’s student began her story. Then she clarified why it was she, and not Natalya, who had to look after the elderly artist. “My niece told me: “I live far away,” but she lives in Kuzminki in Moscow,” the girl said. Also, according to Marina, when her teacher’s health worsened and the question of leaving arose, the singer’s niece Natalya put forward the condition that she would help the elderly woman if she agreed to pay her 50 thousand rubles a month and sign her real estate over to her. That’s why Georginova supposedly came to help Strelchenko herself.
// Photo: Fragment of the program “Let Them Talk”
Strelchenko’s relatives did not immediately learn that she had signed a life annuity agreement and transferred her apartment to Georginova. According to Marina, it was from that moment that they began to turn Alexandra Ilyinichna against her. The singer’s niece Natalya, upon arriving at the studio, burst into tears of frustration and assured the audience that she had helped her aunt as much as possible. Natalya said that she had no goal to blackmail the artist, and in general she has her own real estate.
The discussion participants reminded Georginova of that moment in Strelchenko’s interview when she said that after signing the life annuity agreement, Marina stopped caring for her. In response to this, the girl provided written evidence that Alexandra Ilyinichna received all the medications, food and necessary procedures in full. It became clear that the student was going to continue to fight for the right to own her teacher’s apartment, even despite the fact that Alexandra Ilyinichna expressed a desire to revoke the agreement that she had previously concluded.
// Photo: Fragment of the program “Let Them Talk”
The queen of Russian folk song has been bedridden for many years. Her legs are failing, and doctors recently diagnosed her with Parkinson's disease. The health of the singer of the hits “When Would I Have Golden Mountains”, “Give Me a Scarf”, “Curly Rowan” deteriorated sharply after a conflict with a student to whom she bequeathed her apartment worth 12 million rubles.
Lyudmila Zykina, Olga Voronets and Alexandra Strelchenko were the main populists Soviet era. They often performed in the Kremlin, but it was the heroine of our publication who was called the favorite singer of Khrushchev and Brezhnev. Her voice was heard in the films “War and Peace” and “Kalina Krasnaya”. Even Lydia Ruslanova cried to her songs. In the 70s, Strelchenko’s authority was unquestionable; she was called Zykina’s main competitor. Alexandra Ilyinichna’s first husband was Major General, Head of the 9th Directorate (KGB) Vladimir Chekalov. She married drummer Vladimir Morozov for the second time. The singer did not have children in any marriage, and therefore in her declining years she was left alone with her illnesses. She relied on the help of her student, to whom she even bequeathed housing. In 2014, the singer signed a life annuity agreement with 28-year-old Marina Georginova. The girl received a luxurious apartment in the center of Moscow, and in return she had to buy food, medicine, and care for the star. Three years ago we were visiting the People's Artist in this very apartment and saw Marina. Then Strelchenko spent a long time preparing for the interview, Alexandra Ilyinichna admitted to us: “My legs are giving out,” she moved around the apartment, leaning on a cane. But her living room and kitchen were clean, the artist herself did light makeup, put on an elegant jacket, but was very sad. Scandal around housing issue she hid it for a long time...
People's Artist with her team after one of the performances // Photo: from personal archive
After publicity in the media, we received calls from the Moscow government and even from the office of the President of Russia. By the way, on February 2 of this year, Alexandra Ilyinichna turned 80 years old, Vladimir Putin personally sent her congratulations,” Nikolai Buryanovsky, godson and student of Strelchenko, admitted in a conversation with us. - In general, it is very difficult, as far as I know, to legally terminate a life annuity agreement. But Alexandra Ilyinichna received help, including from Joseph Davydovich Kobzon as a State Duma deputy. Even the judges went along with her. And as a result, the contract was terminated, Marina is no longer announced. Alexandra Ilyinichna said this: “When I decide, I’ll make a will.” And we more topic we don't discuss. After this situation with the apartment, she had a pre-stroke condition and was admitted to intensive care. But, thank God, everything was resolved. Now she is well looked after; she has a nurse with a medical education next to her every day. Strelchenko has a decent pension, she has not been abandoned by the state, plus she receives a salary from Mosconcert. Colleagues often come to visit her from there and send her flowers and gifts.
Alexandra Ilyinichna has made some improvements, she has begun to speak better, we even sing with her, she is gradually returning to vocal form. Her whole day follows a strict schedule, she does gymnastics, eats only dietary food according to the nutritional system developed for her by doctors. But various vascular diseases make themselves felt, the pressure sometimes rises to 200, and doctors recently suspected she has Parkinson’s disease, but there is no strong trembling of the arms and legs yet, they say that the disease is slowly progressing. This is also reflected in the fact that Strelchenko has been performing on stage for more than half a century, always singing live - this is not something that now they open their mouths under plywood. In the past, those who worked on stage were great workers.
Today Strelchenko sings every day, she is preparing to go out to the audience again, despite any illnesses // Photo: Denis Zinchenko
Alexandra Ilyinichna last years rarely goes anywhere except the hospital. But recently she found strength in herself and went to the monastery in Dmitrov to ask higher powers to give her the opportunity to bow to the audience at least once more.
I would still sing! “We managed to talk on the phone with Strelchenko herself, despite the fact that it was very difficult for her to speak and we couldn’t understand some of the words.
They recognized her at the temple. The priest approached her and said: “You are a great singer!” - added the godson. - I have known her for 17 years and have never seen her leave the house without prayer. And today there are icons hanging in her bedroom, she turns to them. Despite any illnesses, she really wants to go on stage again: after all, her whole life is there! She sometimes sees concerts on TV and says: “I could stand there...” However, now she often watches Elena Malysheva in the program “Live Healthy”, by the way, she likes it.
“I gave my whole life to the stage and the audience,” Strelchenko opens up with us. - But I really regret that I never became a mother! But you won't get anything back. I’ve already lived - that’s enough, I just wish I could go on stage...
The future singer was born at the Chaplino station in the Dnepropetrovsk region of the Ukrainian SSR. Parents: Father - Ilya Evgenievich Strelchenko (1911-1941), Mother - Polina Pavlovna Strelchenko (1916-1945). Alexandra became an orphan early. Father died at the front, mother died at the end of the Great Patriotic War. In total there were three children in the family. My aunt took my older sister Valentina to live with her. And Alexandra, who was left an orphan at the age of 8, and her younger brother Anatoly were sent to an orphanage. After graduating from school, she worked as a nanny in a kindergarten. Then she studied at the correspondence department of Leningradsky pedagogical institute. During a tour of the Voronezh Folk Choir in 1958, Alexandra, having attended his concert, decided to leave her studies and devote herself to a musical career.
From 1959 to 1962 she worked at the Lipetsk Philharmonic.
Since 1963, she worked in Moscow, completing a year-long internship at the All-Russian Creative Workshop of Pop Art.
Since 1964, Alexandra Strelchenko has been a soloist of the Mosconcert and artistic director Workshop folk art at the Concert Association "Estrada". 
In 1971, for the best radio recording of the folk song “Bela Zorenka” at the International Competition in Bratislava (Czechoslovakia), she was awarded the 2nd prize and a silver medal - “Silver Ear”.
From 1976 to 1980 she received her education at the Gnessin Musical Pedagogical Institute.
Nowadays
Since 2002 - professor at Moscow state university culture and arts, heads the department of solo folk singing.
In recent years, Alexandra Strelchenko has actively given concerts with the National Orchestra of Russian Folk Instruments named after Osipov (first under the direction of N. Kalinin, now Ponkin), as well as with municipal orchestras of such cities as Chelyabinsk, Ulyanovsk, Volgograd, Petrozavodsk, Lipetsk, Tula and b.b. Alexandra Strelchenko participates in charity events, speaking to war and labor veterans, to orphans in orphanages, and is an active participant in concerts dedicated to the memory of outstanding figures of our country. national culture, whom she knew personally, passing through Concert hall“Russia”, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Central House of Arts, etc.
As chairman and member of the jury in the “Solo” category folk singing“In recent years, A. Strelchenko has visited Smolensk, Bryansk, Vologda, where the Delphic Youth Games were held. She took part in concerts and festivals: the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lydia Ruslanova in Saratov (2000), “Voices of Russia” - Smolensk (2003). Gone solo concerts A. Strelchenko with programs of Russian romance: the house-museum of F. I. Chaliapin, A. Shilov Gallery, House of Scientists, House of Architects, etc.
Personal life
Alexandra's personal life:
The first husband is Major General, KGB officer Vladimir Chekalov.
Second husband - drummer Vladimir Morozov
The singer has no children. According to her, she didn’t have time to give birth to her first husband, and she didn’t want to give birth to her second.
In her free time, Alexandra Ilyinichna enjoys many things: she loves nature, animals, flowers; prefers classical Russian literature, music, ballet, folk melodies, jazz. Her favorite artists are O. Tabakov and N. Mordyukova, I. Arkhipova and A. Vedernikov. She was the favorite singer of Khrushchev and Brezhnev. She was called the queen of folk songs, the hits “Give me a scarf”, “If only I had golden mountains”, “Curly Rowan” were heard at every feast. The voice of this singer adorned the films “War and Peace” and “Kalina Krasnaya”.
Disease
In the mid-1990s, the singer and her second husband had an accident, which started big problems with the spine and hip joint. Each step began to come at the cost of severe pain.
On September 17, 2015, the “Let Them Talk” program with Andrei Malakhov on Channel One was dedicated to Alexandra Strelchenko. The whole country was shocked by the news that Strelchenko was hospitalized with a stroke on September 14, 2015. The reason for the sharp deterioration in the singer’s health is the conflict that arose around her apartment in the center of Moscow. The artist signed an agreement with her student that in exchange for care and attention, she will bequeath her luxurious Moscow apartment to her. Alexandra Ilyinichna fulfilled her obligations, but the girl did her job in bad faith. Strelchenko decided to terminate the contract, but this had to be done through the courts. With the support of her family and friends, she managed to win the argument. In addition, the judge went to meet the people's artist halfway. This whole conflict greatly undermined the artist’s already poor health. Alexandra Ilyinichna ended up in intensive care. She is now being looked after by a specially trained nurse. Having gotten rid of the fraudulent student, the artist began to feel much better. She slowly began to speak, returning to her previous form. 
After the scandal with the apartment, the performer ended up in a hospital bed with a stroke. Alexandra Ilyinichna suffers from high blood pressure. In the fall of 2017, it became known that Alexandra Strelchenko was struggling with Parkinson’s disease.
She rarely leaves home, but regularly visits the hospital. Sometimes she finds the strength to visit holy places; in particular, she visited the monastery in Dmitrov.
The People's Artist has not given interviews for many years, the doors of her house are closed to everyone: “I want to be remembered as beautiful,” she explained.
Alexandra Ilyinichna Strelchenko (February 2, 1937, Chaplino station, Dnepropetrovsk region, Ukrainian SSR) - artist - vocalist - artistic director of the folk art workshop government agency culture of the city of Moscow "Mosconcert", People's Artist RSFSR (1984).
The future singer was born at the Chaplino station in the Dnepropetrovsk region of the Ukrainian SSR. Parents: Father - Ilya Evgenievich Strelchenko (1911-1941), Mother - Polina Pavlovna Strelchenko (1916-1945).
Alexandra became an orphan early (her father died at the front, her mother died at the end of the war) and was raised in orphanage. After graduating from school, she worked as a nanny in a kindergarten.
Then she studied at the correspondence department of the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute. During the tour of the Voronezh Folk Choir in 1958, Alexandra, having attended its concert, decided to leave her studies and devote herself to a musical career.
From 1959 to 1962 she worked at the Lipetsk Philharmonic. Since 1963, she worked in Moscow, completing a year-long internship at the All-Russian Creative Workshop of Pop Art.
In 1971, for the best radio recording of the folk song “Bela Zorenka” at the International Competition in Bratislava, she was awarded the 2nd prize and a silver medal - “Silver Ear”.
From 1976 to 1980 she studied at the Gnessin Music and Pedagogical Institute.
Since 1964, Alexandra Strelchenko has been a soloist of the Mosconcert and artistic director of the Folk Art Workshop at the Estrada Concert Association.
Since 2002, he has been a professor at the Moscow State University of Culture and Arts, heading the department of solo folk singing.
In recent years, Alexandra Strelchenko has actively given concerts with the National Orchestra of Russian Folk Instruments named after. Osipov (first under the direction of N. Kalinin, now Ponkin), as well as with municipal orchestras of such cities as Chelyabinsk, Ulyanovsk, Volgograd, Petrozavodsk, Lipetsk, Tula, etc.
Alexandra Strelchenko participates in charity events, speaking to war and labor veterans, to orphans in orphanages, and is an active participant in concerts dedicated to the memory of outstanding figures of our national culture, whom she knew personally, held in the Rossiya Concert Hall, Concert Hall them. Tchaikovsky, in the Central House of Artists, etc.
As the chairman and member of the jury in the “Solo Folk Singing” category, A. Strelchenko in recent years has visited Smolensk, Bryansk, Vologda, where the Delphic Youth Games were held.
She took part in concerts and festivals: the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lydia Ruslanova in Saratov (2000), “Voices of Russia” - Smolensk (2003). A's solo concerts took place, readweb.org reports. Strelchenko with programs of Russian romance: the house-museum of F. I. Chaliapin, A. Shilov Gallery, House of Scientists, House of Architects, etc.
Alexandra Strelchenko is happy that she continues the singing line of her great predecessors - Olga Kovaleva, Nadezhda Plevitskaya, Lydia Ruslanova, and is grateful to fate for giving her the noble mission of performing continuity, continuation glorious traditions great masters of past years.
People's Artist of Russia Alexandra Ilyinichna Strelchenko is not just an excellent performer of Russian folk songs, but also a figure of Russian folk art who defends it the best traditions, and passing them on to the future generation.
The country's three main populists - Zykina, Voronets and Strelchenko - came together only once - in 2009 at “Let Them Talk.”
In 2004, the official website of Alexandra Strelchenko was created on the Internet.
The personal life of Alexandra Strelchenko was tragic... For the first time - for KGB officer Vladimir Chekalov. This marriage, unfortunately, did not last long - only two years. Love story ended after the death of her beloved husband on a mission.
The second husband was drummer Vladimir Morozov, who took on the duties of director of the already established star. The singer did not have any special feelings for him, and the marriage was based on mutual convenience. Alexandra Strelchenko has no children, because, by her own admission, she did not have time to give birth to her first husband, and did not want to give birth to her second.
A little over 20 years ago, the singer and her second husband had an accident, which caused serious problems with the spine and hip joint. It is for this reason that Alexandra Strelchenko practically does not appear anywhere and does not give interviews.
Every step comes at the cost of unbearable pain. This fall, a scandal erupted around the honored singer. It turns out that last year she signed a life annuity agreement with one of her students.
However, the girl, who took upon herself the obligation to care for the seriously ill Alexandra Strelchenko, does not fulfill her obligation. In this regard, the singer wants to terminate the signed contract. The matter took on such proportions that it even reached Andrei Malakhov’s studio.
As a result of her experiences, the performer herself ended up in a hospital bed with a stroke.
