Zhanna [English: Jeanne] Vinnytsia, later Kolodub, was born in 1930 into a family of musicians in the city of Vinnytsia. She studied violin and piano at Kyiv's Gliere School of Music, graduating in 1949. In 1954 she graduated from the Kyiv Conservatory as a master (docent). She studied piano with Konstantin Mikhailov. When she was 24 she began to pursue composition as a vocation. Her composition teachers were Professor Liatoshinsky and the man who was to become her husband, Levko Kolodub (1930–2019).[1]
At the conservatory was became a lecturer in 1952, then associate professor (1985) and finally professor (1997). In 1995 the conservatory became the Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music.[2]
In 1996, she was named an Honored Worker of Arts of Ukraine. She is the Laureate of the Mykola Lysenko Prize (2002), the Victor Kosenko Prize, the International Competition of Works for Great Instruments (Rivne), and the International Academic Rating of Popularity and Quality "Golden Fortune" (2002)[3] She is a member of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine.[2]
On March 5, 2009, the title People's Artist of Ukraine was bestowed on Kolodub for a significant personal contribution to the socio-economic and cultural development of Ukraine, active public activity, long-term conscientious work and on the occasion of the International Women's Day on March 8.[4]
Kolodub's principal compositions are the ballets Snow Queen and Adventures of Vesnianka, Lyrical Scenes of Kiev for symphonic orchestra, Pictures of Nature for chamber orchestra, two sinfoniettas and a partita for string orchestra, several albums for piano, a wind quartet and other wind chamber works.[5] Vocal compositions include international songs, choral and stage music, musicals, and scores for movies.[6]
Selected works
Children's Album: Early intermediate Piano Solos. Mississauga, Ont.: F. Harris Music, 1997.
Children's Games : 13 pieces for Piano. NY: Associated Music Publisher, 1977.
Concertino for oboe and piano. Pullman, WA: Vivace Press, 1995.
Dances of the People : Piano Works from Ukraine, for solo piano. Pullman, WA: Vivace Press, 1996.
Kontsert dli︠a︡ fortepiano ta orkestru. Klavir. Kyiv: Muzychna Ukraïna, 1974.
Сулім, Римма [Sulim, Rymma]. Композитор Жанна Колодуб: сторінки життя і творчості [Composer Zhanna Kolodub: Pages of Life and Creativity]. Суми : Еллада [Sumy: Hellas], 2017. — 619 с., [10] арк. іл. : табл., портр.[Table, Portrait]; 22 см. — Бібліогр.[Bibliogr]: с. 554—586 (335 назв) та в підрядк. прим. — Бібліогр [Bibliogr]. творів Ж. Колодуб: с. 587–600. — 300 пр. — ISBN978-966-1684-75-0
Sulim, Rymma. "Stylistic and dramaturgic peculiarities of Concertino for oboe and chamber orchestra of Zhanna Kolodub." Bulletin of the National Academy of Management of Culture and Arts (Національна академія керівних кадрів культури і мистецтв), December 5, 2017. Online (English) (Ukrainian).