Iryna Vilinska

Iryna Mykolaivna Vilinska (Ukrainian: Ірина Миколаївна Вілінська, romanized: Iryna Mykolaivna Vilins'ka; 7 September 1920 – 21 or 31 August 1986) was a Soviet and Ukrainian soprano, composer, and music teacher. She was the daughter of Mykola Vilinsky.

Iryna Vilinska was born on 7 September 1920 in Odessa. She showed musical talent at a young age. Vilinska was a student of the Odessa Music and Theater Institute's Department of Labor in 1933–34 and the Odessa Construction Department in 1936, graduating in 1938. In 1939 she transferred to the Odessa Music School and later, in 1941, the Odessa Conservatory. Her family took refuge in Tashkent due to the Second World War, where she met Kseniya Derzhynska. Vilinska moved to Kiev in 1944, where she continued her studies in the Kiev Conservatory under Dometii Yevtushenko.^[1] She graduated in 1946.^[2]

The singer taught at the Glière Music College until 1948. From 1949 she taught at the Kiev Conservatory. Her students included Volodymyr Bohomaz, Anatolii Ponomarenko, Viktor Titkin, and Anatolii Manyachenko. Vilinska was also a capable pianist.^[1] She died on 21 August 1986 in Kiev.^[2] Other sources give her death date as 31 August 1986. Vilinska was buried at the Baikove Cemetery.^[3]

Vilinska wrote vocalises, several romances, and arrangements of folk songs for piano. Her vocalises were highly appreciated. Levko Revutsky recommended the vocalises for use in teaching. Vilinska's vocalises are used for training at the Gnessin State Musical College.^[4] Her last collection of vocalises was published posthumously in 1989 and quickly sold out.^[5]

1. Vocalises for High Voice with Piano. Kyiv, 1952.
2. Vocalises for Medium Voice with Piano. Kyiv, 1961.
3. Vocalises for Low Voice with Piano. Kyiv, 1962.
4. Ukrainian Folk Songs for Bass with Piano Accompaniment. Arrangements by I. Vilinska. Kyiv, 1967.
5. “The Role of Repertoire in the Education of the Singer.” In Issues of Vocal Pedagogy: Collected Articles. Moscow, 1967. Issue 3, pp. 49–90.
6. Musical and Aural Training of Singers. Manuscript. 1975. 59 pp.
7. Vocalises for High Voice with Piano. Moscow, 1969.
8. Pedagogical Repertoire of the Singer. Five collections for: (a) tenor; (b) mezzo-soprano; (c) soprano; (d) bass; (e) baritone. Kyiv, 1969.
9. Vocalises for the Beginning Singer. Kyiv, 1971.
10. Vocalises for Medium Voice. Kyiv, 1989.

• Mykhaylova T.M. Education of Singers at the Kyiv Conservatory: A Chronological Survey from 1863 to 1963. Kyiv: Muzychna Ukraina, 1970. 128 pp.
• Hnyd, B. P. Performing Schools of Ukraine: The Solo Singing Department of the P. I. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine (1971–2001). Kyiv: P. I. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, 2002. 95 pp.
• Vilinsky, Yuri (10 September 2020). "Ірина Миколаївна Вілінська (7 вересня 1920 – 31 серпня 1986). До 100-річчя від дня народження". Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 17 November 2025.
• Nazarenko, Valentina; Vilinsky, Yuri (19 December 2018). "Iryna Mykolaïvna Vilinska. The Composer in the Ukrainian School of Vocal Arts". Ukrainian Musicology (in Ukrainian). 44. Kyiv. doi:10.31318/0130-5298.2018.44.0.152908. ISSN 0130-5298. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
• Nazarenko, Valentina (8 September 2010). "Uroky muzyky Iryny Vilinskoi" Уроки музики Iрини Вілінської [Music Lessons of Iryna Vilinska]. The Day (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 29 January 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
• Shevchuk, O. (2006). "Вілінська Ірина Миколаївна". In Skrypnyk, Hanna (ed.). Ukrainian Musical Encyclopedia (in Ukrainian). Vol. 1. Kyiv: Rylsky Institute of Art Studies, Folklore, and Ethnology. ISBN 966-02-4099-6. Retrieved 16 November 2025.