Alina Galueva: “I am proud to be one of the few female producers in the music industry.”

At the GRAMMY Awards-2024, Alina Galueva’s name rang really loud: she was nominated for the award as music producer/pianist for her participation in Malik Yusef’s Good M.U.S.I.C Universe Sonic Cinema album, and thus recognized as one of the few female producers in the industry. 

From a small music school in a southern Russian city to a GRAMMY nomination, Alina Galueva’s journey proves that when talent meets perseverance, the impossible becomes reality. A virtuoso pianist, producer, singer, and creator of an innovative neuro-musical method, she has risen from classical music education and regional competition wins to her own piano, orchestral, and jazz compositions that attract the attention of stars in the field of Hip Hop, R&B, and pop music, from international piano competitions in Italy, England, and Greece to collaborations with multi-platinum top producers Fka 1st, Bobby Kritical, and Willafool. This story is still being written, but one thing is already clear: we are witnessing only the opening notes of a grand, polyphonic musical composition. 

First Notes

When five-year-old Alina Galueva first sat at a piano in Vladikavkaz, the capital of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania in Russia, no one could have imagined that her path would lead to major studios, a GRAMMY nomination, and collaborations with Hip Hop legends. But music is unpredictable—it doesn’t just connect notes; it shatters boundaries, turning dreams into reality.

While other children feared the dark, Alina feared false notes. She didn’t just study music—she lived it. At six, she performed with Vladikavkaz’s local symphony orchestra. By seven, she had composed her first piece. By eleven, her shelves groaned under the weight of regional competition trophies and awards in composition and solfège. “I felt this gift was given to me from above,” Alina recalls. Yet at sixteen, after graduating with honors from music school, she closed the piano lid for two years. Exhausting practice sessions and uncertainty about her future had sown doubt. Fate intervened on a random street when a former teacher confronted her: “You’re betraying your gift.” That night, Alina wept over her box of medals—and the next day, she applied to the Gnessin Academy, Russia’s most prestigious music school.

A New Chord and a long pause

After moving to Moscow in 2009, Alina’s talent gained international recognition. Since 2012, she has won several international competitions as a pianist, and these achievements became her ticket to the world stage and the realm of great music.. “In 2013, I went to Los Angeles planning to apply to USC—but by chance, I auditioned for Berklee College of Music instead. I got in with a $14,000 scholarship. I was overjoyed,” she says. Studying jazz piano, a recital in Boston’s David Recital Hall as a freshman, new victories in competitions, and since 2015, working as a music producer with the famous Russian R’n’B and pop band Banderos, which was the first to bring this style to Russia, everything unfolded at lightning speed.

But then, life prepared an unexpected turn: love and marriage. Fate tests the strength of every talented person. For love and family, Galueva sacrificed the prestigious Berklee and began a bright professional destiny. Now she calls these years a time of internal struggle, when music lived in her, but found no outlet in the routine life of a housewife. 

But the music lived in her, looking for an outlet, and it was unthinkable for Alina to part with it. And yet she had the strength to make another dramatic change and to return to her true self.

Starting Over

She had to rebuild from scratch. It was like sitting down at the piano again after a long break and starting on scales and arpeggios. 2019 marked her rebirth, firstly with ALean, a project in the house music genre where she emerged as a singer and producer. Secondly, the creation of her own independent label, Krug, collaborating with talented musicians at the intersection of genres, with the support of Believe Digital, one of the world’s largest digital music distributors, which is based in France, operates in more than 50 countries, and provides independent labels and artists with access to global streaming platforms. For Galueva, this collaboration indicates the project’s professional level and international reach. And finally, there is a publication about her in Vogue Russia. All this proved that talent does not disappear, even if it is silenced for a while. It won’t be long before famed music producer Zaytoven posts a video for his audience of 1.9 million subscribers as he listens to Galueva perform. 

Determined to grow, Alean began forging creative connections abroad. In 2022, she signed with London’s Producer Culture LTD and initiated non-commercial collaborations with American producers. Within a month of arriving in the U.S., she joined Malik Yusef’s project, later GRAMMY-nominated, with Alean credited as a producer and pianist. 

By this time, she had made up her mind: now, she is most interested in producing, working with the genres of hip-hop, R&B, and soul. In the following months, she built industry relationships and visited legendary L.A. studios—Paramount, Interscope, Warner Chappell, Def Jam, and Universal. “Moving to the U.S. confirmed it again: music is my calling,” she says. “Nothing can stop my success now.”

A Symphony 

Alongside performing, Alean is developing Neurosound—an innovative method merging musical frequencies with color therapy. It sounds like a Black Mirror plot: each note corresponds to a color, and melodies are programmed based on diagnostic questionnaires to correct psychological states and combat addiction. This project perfectly reflects her multidimensional approach to music as a tool for transformation.

She poured relentless energy into initiating connections, creative exchanges, collaborations, and studio sessions—all non-commercial, aimed at expanding her professional horizons, honing her craft, and integrating into the U.S. music industry.

Alean continues pushing boundaries through collaborative projects with King Chip, with whom she is working on the new album “Polygyny”, as well as with Tish Hyman, Apollo Liberace, Jeleel, Larrance Dopson, and other musicians. Her charity piano masterclasses at Beat School USA help the next generation find their voice. 

“I am very proud to be one of the few female producers in the music industry,” Alean shares. “But I also plan to continue my career as a singer, which I once started in Russia. But now I will sing in English, and my first single “Stay” will be released soon, which I produced together with FKA 1st, a diamond producer who has worked with Post Malone, Travis Scott, Travis Porter, Iggy Azelea, and Ariana Grande.”

Her plans? Officially working in the U.S.—either with a major label or as an independent producer. Proud to be one of the few women in this space, she confesses her dream: “Winning ‘Producer of the Year’ at the GRAMMYs.” And we believe it will happen. Alina Galueva’s story proves that talent, persistence, and a willingness to engage in genuine artistic dialogue can transcend geographic, cultural, or otherwise borders.