Polina Shepherd was raised in a Cossack / Jewish family in Tatarstan, Russia. Whilst studying in Kazan State Academy in the 1990s, she toured with Russia's first klezmer band after Perestroika, Simcha. By her early 20s she was a Yiddish choir and klezmer band leader, composer, touring musician, educator and festival organiser. Moved to the UK in 2003. Her recent work includes touring with Apollo's Fire , Cleveland (OH, USA) Grammy-winning baroque orchestra and 'Folk-Cabaret' The Stranniki with Psoy Korolenko (UK-USA). As a pianist, she plays live accompaniment to B&W silent films from the 1910-1930s in The Sound & Light Cinematic Duo. In cinema, she recorded for The Windermere Children and appears conducting and soloing in TV series The Crown . In theatre, most recently she's been Music Adviser and recorded for National Theatre co-production of Kin by Amit Lahav; Music Adviser and arranger for a A Secret About Joy, by Sarah Brown in Sibiu, Romania. Polina's choral work has been published internationally, most recently in Edition Peters Yiddish Choral Series. Music Director of Caravan Orchestra and Choir, an international project for young musicians with classical, jazz and Arab music backgrounds.
