Born in 1991, in Ufa, Russia, Elena Rykova studied piano, composition and conducting at music college. After graduation in 2010, she decided to continue as a composer in Moscow State Conservatory with prof. Yuri Kasparov for the next five years. In 2015 she started her master program in composition at Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with prof. Johannes Schöllhorn. And since Fall 2016 she is a PhD candidate at Harvard University, studying instrumental composition with prof. Chaya Czernowin and electroacoustic composition with prof. Hans Tutschku.