Valeria Z. Nollan is Professor Emerita of Russian Studies at Rhodes College and one of the foremost authorities on Rachmaninoff's life and music in the English-speaking world. Born in Germany to Russian emigrant parents and raised bilingually in Russian and English, she has spent over twenty years researching the composer across archives and cultural institutions in Russia, the UK, Switzerland, Italy, and the United States. A musician who has performed Rachmaninoff's works at the composer's own Estate-Museum in Ivanovka, Russia, and at the Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow's Glinka State Museum of Musical Culture, Nollan brings to her biography a performer's intimacy with the music she writes about. She is also an Orthodox Christian liturgical chanter, giving her unique access to the spiritual world that animated Rachmaninoff's sacred compositions. A published poet, translator, and keynote concert presenter, Nollan has lectured on Rachmaninoff at universities and cultural institutions across the United States, Europe, and Russia. She is a featured speaker on the All-American Speakers Bureau, has delivered pre-concert talks for major symphony orchestras, and engages audiences in live and remote formats on topics related to Rachmaninoff's world. Among her book-length works are Holocaust of the Noble Beasts (Goldfish Press, 2020) and the forthcoming The Musical Art of Donald Brown.