Svetlana Guziy

Managing Director of the Theatre

Born on December 15

Svetlana was born in Krasnoyarsk in 1968. Education: graduate degree. In 2008, she underwent additional professional training under the programme "Management in the Social and Cultural Sphere" as part of the creative workshop for the training of cultural institutions’ heads "Young Leaders". The training was provided by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Research and Training Centre for Cultural Personnel. 

On August 20, 2007, she obtained an appointment as Audience Relations Deputy Director of the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. Svetlana was appointed Managing Director of the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre in October 2008.

Until 2008, the Theatre staged one or two premieres per season; under Svetlana’s management, the number of premiere performances increased to 11 per season. It significantly drummed up the interest of the audience in the theatre.

In 2008, the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre was classified as a particularly valuable cultural heritage site of the Krasnoyarsk Region.

Since 2008, the Opera and Ballet Theatre has undergone renovations, and conditions for personnel comfort have been provided there. The audience space within the Theatre and the territory around the Theatre have also been reconstructed, the design of the foyer has been updated, more cafés have been opened, comfort conditions for spectators with limited health capacities have been established.

Svetlana Vladimirovna Guziy got the improvement of electronic control systems and acoustic systems going, modern lighting equipment was purchased: as a result, the Theatre has the possibility to hold performances and concerts at a high level in accordance with modern requirements for stage technology.

Thanks to the personal contribution of Svetlana Vladimirovna, a unique premiere of Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov took place in Krasnoyarsk in 2014. This is a project of three theatres - the Bolshoi Theatre, the Kolobov Moscow Theatre Novaya Opera, and the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. Costumes and sets by artists Yuri Kuper (Moscow) and Honoured Figure of Arts of Russia Pavel Kaplevich (Moscow) were donated by the Bolshoi Theatre for five years free of charge. The production of the first authorial version of the opera Boris Godunov in the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre was the first in the world to open a series of celebrations dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the great Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. This performance was not only an invaluable gift for Krasnoyarsk residents but also made a substantial contribution to the development of the culture of the Krasnoyarsk Region.

In May 2019, the experimental premiere of Les Mamelles de Tirésias by Francis Poulenc took place in the art space loft Quadrat. The theatrical action at the black box theatre situated in the abandoned factory building, as well as the contemporary rendition of the work was on everyone’s lips and attracted a new audience including young people. The show won the Special Music Theatre Jury Prize “For a new look at the opera genre in a new theatrical space” (the Golden Mask Award, 2020). Among the Golden Mask Award nominees in 2022, there were two productions of the Krasnoyarsk Opera House: Alexander Borodin’s slapstick operetta Bogatyrs and the choreographic mystery Leningrad Symphony (Lamento).

Svetlana Vladimirovna Guziy organized the events that strengthened existing ties and established the new ones between the Russian Federation and foreign countries. These events are the Ulanova Russian Young Ballet Dancers Competition, the international festival Stars Parade at the Opera (held annually since 2010), the international forum Ballet XXI Century (held bi-yearly since 2010). Since 2019, the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre has been regularly taking part in the Dmitri Hvorostovsky Festival.

The Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre is nowadays the only theatre in the Krasnoyarsk Region that actively tours not only in the Region and Russia but also around the world. Contributing to the promotion of Russian classical art, the ballet company of the Theatre annually tours the cities of the UK, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, France, Senegal; it participates in international festivals; Theatre’s conductors and opera soloists perform on the stages of various famous theatrical venues of the world. All Theatre’s tours are undertaken at the expense of the host.

Thanks to Svetlana Vladimirovna Guziy, the Theatre has joined the International Federation of Ballet Competitions (2013), the Association of Music Theatres of Russia (2017), the international association Opera Europe (2018); it offered the Theatre the prospects of cooperation with the best theatrical venues of the world and the possibility of inviting world opera and ballet stars to perform in Krasnoyarsk.