Hibla Gerzmava is a People’s Artist of Russia, People’s Artist of Abkhazia, State Prize Winner of the Russian Federation. Laureate of the international competitions such as Verdian voices Busseto (Italy), Francesc Viñas in Barcelona, and N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov in Saint Petersburg. In 1994, the singer won the International Competition named after P. I. Tchaikovsky, becoming the first in the history of the competition to win the Grand Prix.

Today, Hibla Gerzmava is one of the most sought-after singers of our time. She has performed at the world’s leading opera stages: the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, the Mariinsky Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera, the Covent Garden, La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opera, the Paris Theater of the Champs-Elysées and the Teatro Châtel, the Real Theater of Madrid, the Barcelona Liceu Theatre, the Roman Opera, the Florentine Komunale Theatre, the Zemper Opera in Dresden, the Bavarian State Opera, the Opera of Zurich, the Sofia Opera, the Ludwigsburg Festival in Germany, and many others.

Hibla Gerzmava has been the winner of the Golden Orpheus award (2001) and Casta Diva (2010) in the category Best Singer, Moscow City Prize in literature and art (2010), Triumph Prize (2011), of the two National Theatre Prizes Golden Mask (2012, 2016), Prize of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the field of culture and art (2021).

After studying composition and conducting in his home town, Rosario, José Cura moved to Buenos Aires in 1984 to hone his skills, working at the Teatro Colón from 1984 to 1988, where his voice developed into the distinctive one that led him to international fame.
In 2007, La commedia è finita, a re-imagining of Pagliacci coupled with mime, marked the beginning of his career as a stage director. In 2010, he designed and directed Samson et Dalila at the Badisches Staatstheater, but were the unanimous plaudits for La rondine at the Opéra de Nancy and Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, both in 2012, that sealed his stature as a director of distinction. In 2013, his production of Otello at the Teatro Colón was selected as one of the most successful of the year by international voting. His show A Scandinavian bohème in 2015, a new production of Puccini’s La bohème, is considered as one of the most successful ever to have been presented at the Royal Swedish Opera. In 2017, his co-production of Peter Grimes in Bonn and Monte-Carlo was labeled as “A masterful evening”.
From 2015 to 2018, José Cura was the Artist in Residence of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. As part of his commitments with the Czech ensemble, he conducted the premiere of his triptych Ecce Homo, as well as the symphonic version of Ariel Ramírez’ Misa Criolla and Navidad Nuestra.
In February 2019, José Cura was appointed the first Principal Guest Artist — singer, composer, and conductor — in the history of the Hungarian Radio Art Groups. With them, on January 29th 2020, he conducted the world premiere of his opera Montezuma and the Red Priest at the Liszt Academy. His Te Deum was premiered with London’s Philharmonia in September 2021 during the Enescu Festival.
José Cura’s Requiem æternam has been premiered in Budapest on the 9th of May 2022, with the MTVA art groups and the Hungarian National Choir.

Vasco Fracanzani grew up in an Italian Spanish family and first started his musical studies abroad. He subsequently studied singing at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan and has sung professionally in Italy, Spain, England, and Germany.
In 2010, he won the auditions and was a member of the Teatro Real Chorus until 2016, moment in which he transitioned into the field of artistic management. As of January 2025, he is a partner in InArt Management.
As an opera singer initially and subsequently in artistic management, he has had and continues to have the possibility, responsability, and honour to work with, observe, and follow the paths of many distinguished music international professionals and also interact with international venues, a profound and highly enriching both professional and personal experience.

Born in Milan in 1977. He pursued a professional education that led him to a degree in International Relations, to which he simultaneously combined his musical studies to deepen and complement his passion for opera. At the age of 24, Alessandro Ariosi began his professional experience as a manager, which led him to realise his dream of working for some of the greatest artists on the international scene and with the world’s leading opera houses.
In 2011, he founded the agency that bears his name: Ariosi Management. Since then, he has the privilege of guiding established artists, working to launch rising young talents and gradually opening up his perspectives to event organisation. Alessandro personally follows the career of each of his artists, thus realising his professional aspiration: to combine his passion for opera with the management of his artists. He carefully supervises their career development, seeking to fulfil the aspirations and unique characteristics of each and every one of them, and establishing relationships with theatres and promoters on an international scale, with the aim of bringing out the full potential of each of his artists.

Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation, soprano.
Born in Volgograd. Graduated with honours from the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory in 1991 and joined the Opera Company of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia as a soloist. She also studied with Licia Albanese in New York.
In 1994 she performed Tamara’s part in the opera The Demon, which was the start of the singer’s triumphal career in the West.
First prize winner of the Belvedere Singing Competition (Austria, 1995).
Since 1997, Marina Mescheriakova has been performing at the world’s major opera houses and concert halls: the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, La Scala, the Paris Opera, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, opera theatres in Genoa, Parma, Naples, and Monte-Carlo. Has taken part in the Salzburg Festival, the Bregenz Festival, and the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival (Japan).
Collaborated with outstanding conductors: C. Abbado, L. Maazel, J. Levine, A. Pappano, V. Gergiev, Yu. Temirkanov, B. Haitink, V. Fedoseev, G. Prêtre, F. Luisi, S. Ozawa, M. Pletnev, and Z. Mehta as well as with famous stage directors, including F. Zeffirelli, B. Pokrovsky, G. Vick and L. Ronconi.
The singer’s discography comprises recordings for companies such as Naxos, Philips Records, Chandos, and Deutsche Grammophon.
Since 1999, she has been living in Vienna.
In 2018, she founded M Stage Productions which organises tours of artists and theatre groups. Together with the Elena Obraztsova Foundation Marina Mescheriakova arranged a performance of the International Vocal Competition José Carreras Grand Prix laureates at the Wiener Musikverein.

Dmitry Vdovin is a founder, Artistic Director and a voice teacher of the Young Artist Programme of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia.
He started his pedagogical career at the Gnesin State College of Music, where later he became the head of the Vocal Department. Was a voice teacher at the Russian Academy of Music, then Chair of the Solo Singing Department at the Victor Popov Academy of Choral Art, where he is still a professor of the voice.
Was invited as a guest teacher to young artist programmes/studios of Houston Grand Opera, the Zurich Opera House, the Metropolitan Opera (Lindemann YADP), the Vienna State Opera, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, the Dutch National Opera, the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, the Stuttgart State Opera, the Astana Opera, and the Bregenz Festival.
Dmitry Vdovin has given masterclasses all over Russia as well as in the USA and Europe. He has been a jury member for the most prestigious vocal competitions. His students became principal artists at the renowned opera houses such as the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden among others.
Honoured Master of Arts of the Russian Federation, Cavaliere dell’ Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana, winner of the national opera awards Onegin and Casta Diva.

Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation and Russian Government Prize winner, Anton Grishanin graduated from a trumpet class of the Ural State Mussorgsky Conservatoire, where he also completed postgraduate studies in opera and orchestral conducting (class of Evgeny Brazhnik). He went on studying at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.
In 2003–2009, Anton Grishanin worked as a conductor, and in 2009–2013 — as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Glinka Chelyabinsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. From 2008 to 2013, he was a guest conductor, and during 2013–2018 — a conductor at the Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre. In 2011–2018, Anton Grishanin worked as a guest conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. Since 2018, he has been a conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre, and since 2020, he has also worked as Deputy Chief Conductor and Musical Director of the theatre’s Chamber Stage.
His repertoire includes over 50 opera and ballet works. He has also conducted orchestra and concert programmes. He participated in the Irina Arkhipova Presents… festival, the Grand Festival in Bangkok (Thailand), conducted the final rounds of the Stanislav Neuhaus Piano Competition, the International Glinka Competition of Vocalists, and the Competition of Competitions of Vocalists of the Sobinov Musical Festival among others.
Has cooperated with various theatres and orchestras in Russia and abroad, including the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the Berlin State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Bavarian State Opera (Munich), the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Mexico City, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and the English National Opera. He has twice become a winner of the Golden Mask National Theatre Award.

Artistic Director and Chief Director of Opera at the Moscow State Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre. People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, USSR State Prize winner, Moscow Prize winner, Stanislavsky Prize winner, Professor.
Born in Tashkent. In 1980, Alexander graduated from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (Lev Mikhailov’s class). Between 1980 and 1991, he was Chief Director of the Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) Opera and Ballet Theatre.
Since 1991, he has been working at the Moscow State Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre. Among his productions at the theatre are Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila, Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tale of Tsar Saltan, The Golden Cockerel, and May Night, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades, Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery, War and Peace, and The Love for Three Oranges, Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Offenbach’s Robinson Crusoé́, and many others.
Alexander Titel produced the world premieres of the operas The Prophet by Vladimir Kobekin (conducted by Yevgeny Brazhnik, sets by Yuri Ustinov and Ernst Heidebrecht), The Gambler by Sergei Prokofiev in the first version (conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, sets by David Borovsky), Antigone by Vasily Lobanov (conducted by Yevgeny Brazhnik, sets by Ernst Heidebrecht), Hamlet by Vladimir Kobekin (conducted by Felix Korobov, sets by Ernst Heidebrecht), and The Devil in Love by Alexander Wustin (conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, sets by Vladimir Arefiev).
He staged a total of about 70 productions in Russia and abroad.

Accompanist, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation, recipient of the Medal of the Order for Services to the Fatherland, 1st class, and the Onegin National Opera Award.
In 1980, three years after graduating from the conservatory, Irina Soboleva was invited to join the Mariinsky Theatre as an opera accompanist. Productions she worked on include The Queen of Spades, Eugene Onegin, Sadko, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Prince Igor, Mazepa, The Enchantress, The Tsar’s Bride, Boris Godunov, War and Peace, Semyon Kotko, Katerina Izmailova, The Nose, Aida, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as many others.
In close collaboration with composer Rodion Shchedrin she worked on the world premieres of his operas The Left­hander (2013) and A Christmas Tale (2015) and the St Petersburg premiere of his opera Lolita (2020). Irina Soboleva has performed with the Mariinsky Theatre troupe in Germany, Italy, Portugal, France, Japan, Israel, the USA, Great Britain, Finland, South America. She participated in the Stars of the White Nights festival in St Petersburg, the Moscow Easter Festival, the Mikkeli Music Festival, and the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam.
Since 2012, she has taught at the Department of Accompanist Mastership of the Rimsky-Korsakov St Petersburg State Conservatory. The artist is a jury member for several international competitions and convenes masterclasses.
Since September 2021, she has been Artistic Director of the Opera Company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

Born in Leningrad, Lena Gershuni was trained as a pianist at the Special Music School of the Ural State Mussorgsky Conservatoire in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), subsequently graduating from the conservatoire itself.
She started her career with singers of the Sverdlovsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, working under conductor Yevgeny Kolobov. Lena continued working in opera as a répétiteur after emigrating to Israel in 1990.
Her international projects both for opera and concert have seen her work with directors Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Jurowski, Daniel Oren, Alberto Zedda, Frédéric Chaslin, Gary Bertini, Asher Fisch, Dan Ettinger, and Rani Calderon among others.
Lena was the official pianist at an edition of Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition and for the vocal performance category of the Leonard Bernstein Competition. Has cooperated for several years with the Lyrique-en-Mer opera festival in France, and participated in opera productions at the National Opera of Chile in Santiago.
For many years, she has offered summer masterclasses at the International Vocal Art Institute (IVAI).
She is currently employed as Senior Rehearsal Pianist at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv.

People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, and the Republic of South Ossetia.
Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers, the State Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, and the Digora State Drama Theatre (Vladikavkaz).
She is one of the finest vocal accompanists, artistic directors, and jury members for numerous prestigious international vocal competitions. During her artistic career, Larisa Gergieva has trained 196 prize winners of Soviet, Russian, and international contests. Her repertoire includes over 100 operas.
She was recognised 32 times as the best accompanist at national and international competitions in Great Britain, Italy, the USA, Romania, France, as well as Tchaikovsky, Chaliapin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Georg Ots, Elena Obraztsova, and Irina Arkhipova Competitions.
Larisa Gergieva headed the Virginia Zeani Competition (Romania), the Competition of Russian Vocal Music (London), the Rimsky-Korsakov, Pavel Lisitsian, and Elena Obraztsova international competitions, the Opera Without Borders contest (Krasnodar), the Nadezhda Obukhova All-Russian Young Vocalists Competition, and the Koryakin International Competition.
In 2022, she received the Onegin National Opera Award in the “Great Mentor” nomination. Has recorded 23 CDs with acclaimed singers such as Olga Borodina, Valentina Tsydypova, Galina Gorchakova, Lyudmila Shemchuk, Georgy Zastavny, Grayr Khanedanian, Mikhail Kit, Ekaterina Semenchuk, and Daniil Shtoda.
For many years, she has been giving workshops in Russia, the USA, Great Britain, Spain, France, South Korea, Sweden, Japan, China, Poland, and other countries.
In recent years, Larisa Gergieva has worked as a stage director for operas such as Verdi’s Il trovatore, Giordano’s Fedora, and Bizet’s Carmen.

Honoured Artist of the RSFSR, Professor of the Tchaik- ovsky Moscow State Conservatory, opera accompanist of the Moscow State Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre. In 1965, she graduated from the Piano Department of the Ural State Mussorgsky Conservatoire. Was an accompanist and Chief Accompanist of the Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 1976, Evgenia Arefieva was invited to teach at the Ural Conservatoire, where she taught a chamber singing class at the Solo Singing Department, as well as an accompanist class at the Chamber Music Department.
Since 1991, Evgenia Arefieva taught a vocal ensemble class at the Solo Singing Department of the Moscow Conservatory. Her students became laureates of the contests Bella voce and Festos many times. She was a jury member for the International Glinka Competition of Vocalists (Chelyabinsk, 2007). Since 1992, Evgenia Arefieva has been a leading opera accompanist at the Moscow State Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre. She has participated in the productions of La bohème, Carmen, La forza del destino, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, L’elisir d’amore, L’italiana in Algeri, La traviata, Médée, Manon, and others. Currently, she is a vocal theatre teacher and tutor.
Evgenia Arefieva prepared programmes for the Х International Tchaikovsky Competition with Hibla Gerzmava (Grand Prix, 1994). She subsequently worked on all parts with Hibla Gerzmava for productions at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Vienna State Opera.

Honoured Artist of the Republic of Abkhazia, diploma winner of international competitions.
In 1993, Ekaterina Ganelina graduated from the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory (special piano class of Professor Vera Gornostayeva), and in 1995, she completed her postgraduate course in accompanist studies with distinction there (supervised by Professor Mstislav Smirnov).
Under the direction of Professor Yevgeny Shenderovich the artist tried herself as an accompanist, and in 1993, she started working at the Solo Singing Department of the Moscow Conservatory. Since 2008, Ganelina has taught at the Accompanist Art Department of the conservatory, and now, she is an associate professor.
Her creative alliance bonds Ekaterina Ganelina with singer Hibla Gerzmava. Their joint solo concerts have been staged to great acclaim in cities across Russia, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Japan, the USA and China. Several CDs have been produced in recording studios. In October 2015, the creative duo Gerzmava–Ganelina made their debut at New York’s acclaimed Carnegie Hall.
Ekaterina Ganelina took part in international contests: the Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow, 1994), the Rimsky-Korsakov Competition (St Petersburg, 1993), the Bella voce Competition (Moscow, 1999 and 2001), and the Amber Nightingale Competition (Kaliningrad, 2002).
At all contests, she was awarded the Best Accompanist Diploma. She was also worked as an accompanist of Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition (Madrid, 1995).