Opera

In 1995 I had my first theatrical experience; I was two, my family was living in Kyrgyzstan, and we attended The Bishkeke National Opera’s production of Madama Butterfly. During ‘Un Bel Di, Vedremo’ I was spellbound. So much so, that during the grand finale as Butterfly kills herself, I was overcome with terror. No one had explained that what happened on the stage was not real. I apparently made quite a scene; I stood on my seat and tearfully begged my mother to intervene.

I didn’t work in opera until 2020; I undertook a training with Katie Mitchell intended to identify theatre directors with transferrable opera skills - my musical literacy and aptitude for languages made me a good fit - which resulted in an assisting job at Covent Garden on the 2021 live stream of Seven Deadly Sins and Mahagonny Songspiel.