Olga Amelchenko is born in 1988 in Russia. She starts singing in choir at the age of 5, and playing piano and dombra two years later.

Between 2003 and 2006, she studies at the College of music in Abakan, beginning her studies in choir conducting, before switching to saxophone.

In 2006, Olga moves to Novosibirsk, where she studies jazz at the College of Music. After graduating in 2010, she takes classical saxophone lesson to expand her knowledge of the instrument.

Olga then moves to Germany, and studies at the « Hochschule for Musik und Tanz » in Cologne between 2012 and 2014.

Olga Amelchenko moves to Berlin in 2014, where she finishes a Bachelor of Jazz Performance in 2018 followed by a master of Jazz Composition and Arrangement in Jazz Institut Berlin in 2019.

Involved in the vibrant jazz scene of Berlin, Olga has toured in Russia,Germany, France, Holland, and Italy. Now living between Paris and Berlin, Olga is involved in the european jazz scene as a leader with the Olga Amelchenko Quartet and HELICON, and as a side woman with different projects.

“Shaping Motions” her first album as a leader, is released on Unit Records in 2018. She co-leads “Planet 9” project album in 2017, and participates as a sidewoman on “Factotum” from Thijs de Klijn Quintet in 2018, “Timeprints” from Musina Ebobissé Quintet in 2019, and “Liquid Circle” from the Hans Anselm Big Band 2020.

-Olga tells stories with her instrument and she cares for being heard and understood.

Marek Romanski

Jazz Forum