Vera Baranova

Honored Artist of Russia

Born on April 7

Born in Krasnoyarsk. In 1993, right after she had graduated from the Krasnoyarsk State Institute of Arts, Vera joined the opera company of the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre as a principal singer.

For 30 years, she has performed more than 40 parts of the world opera repertoire. She has many a time been awarded at the Theatre Spring festival.

She regularly sang in concerts of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Philharmonic Society accompanied by the Krasnoyarsk Academic Symphony Orchestra, Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Russian Orchestra, N. P. Osipov Orchestra of Folk Instruments of Russia, Krasnoyarsk Chamber Orchestra, etc.

She worked with outstanding conductors of our times, such as People's Artist of Russia Ivan Shpiller, People's Artist of Russia Eugeny Brazhnik, People's Artist of Russia Nikolai Kalinin, Honoured Artist of Russia Andrei Anikhanov, Anatoly Bardin, Pyotr Gribanov, Vasily Petrenko, Honoured Artist of Russia Ilmar Lapins (Latvia ), Giovanni Froio (Italy), Roberto Gianola (Italy), Deyan Savic (Serbia), Wiktor Bockman (Switzerland), Huub Bartz (Netherlands), Paul Van Gulik (Netherlands), Lin Tao (China), Burinbekh Zhagvaral (Mongolia), Jiří Kratochvil (Czech Republic-USA), and others.

Vera performed in the Netherlands, Switzerland, England, France, Finland, USA, Argentina, Mongolia, Serbia. Her performing of the role of Violetta (La Traviata by Verdi) during the theatre tours in the United Kingdom was highly appreciated by English critics: “The singer performs at the highest professional level. She has really great talent, skills, and a beautiful voice.” Vera also tours a lot in the cities of the Krasnoyarsk Region, Khakassia, the Kemerovo and Tomsk and Irkutsk Regions.

Between 2009 and 2012, Vera was Artistic Director of the opera company of the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. Through her enterprise, the four international festivals Stars Parade at the Opera took place in the Theatre. Eminent opera conductors took part in it, such as People’s Artist of Russia Eugene Brazhnik, Deyan Savic (Serbia), Ilmar Lapins (Latvia), Wiktor Bockman (Switzerland), Fabio Mastrangelo (Italy), and others, as well as well-known opera singers; among them, there were Honoured Artists of the USSR Irina Bogachiova, Elena Obraztsova, Makvala Kasrashvili, People’s Artist of Russia Oleg Kulko, Honoured Artists of Russia Roman Muravitsky, Eugeny Akimov, Mikhail Gubsky, Mikhail Urusov, winners of prestigious international competitions of vocalists Vasily Ladyuk, Roman Shulakov, Agunda Kulayeva, and others.

Vera Baranova is an author and promoter of the Golden Voices of Siberia project. The Gala Nights of the theatre’s soloists took place in 2010 on stages of the Small Hall and Organ Hall of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Philharmonic Society within the project. Such soloists performed in the concerts as People's Artists of Russia Vladimir Yefimov and Larisa Marzoyeva, Honoured Artist of Russia Natalia Sokolova, principal opera singers Boris Sabirov, Andrei Silenko, Anastasia Lepeshinskaya, Svetlana Ratslaf-Levchuk, Anna Kiselyova, and Honoured Artist of Russia Vera Baranova herself.

She recorded two solo albums - “My Angel” and “All About My Love”.

Since 2006, she successfully combines her performing activities with teaching at the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Institute of Arts. Among her class graduates are laureates of Russian and international competitions, soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre Kristina Gonta (Alieva), diploma winner of an international competition Yulia Peretokina, soloists of the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre Alexander Cherpakov, Aliona Zafran (Kiskina), Victoria Maslyukova.

In 2013, Vera Baranova accepted the academic title of Associate Professor, in 2018 - the academic title of Professor. Since 2020, she’s been Head of the Faculty of Solo Singing and Opera Training.

She was the initiator and artistic director of the project "Educational and creative cluster of the Yenisei Siberia: to the 60th anniversary of People's Artist of the Russian Federation Dmitri Hvorostovsky", which received support from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives. Its result was the staging and three shows of the opera Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart at the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre and the Yenissei Siberia towns tour with this opera performed by the students of the Faculty, the symphony orchestra of the Institute, and the soloists of the Theatre in June 2022 (in Abakan , Minusinsk, and Kyzyl). A project of the level this high was carried out at the Institute for the first time in its history.

The roles performed: 

1993
Susanna – The Marriage of Figaro by W. A. Mozart
Cinderella, Prickle – Cinderella by A. Spadavecchia

1994
Karolina – Il Matrimonio Segreto by Domenico Cimarosa

1995
Emma – Khovanshchina by Mussorgsky
Mařenka – The Bartered Bride by B. Smetana

1997
Oscar the page – A Masked Ball by Giuseppe Verdi

1998
Violetta – La Traviata by Verdi
Flora – Carmina Burana by Carl Orff

1999
Maria – La Fille du Régiment by Gaetano Donizetti
Marfa – The Tsar's Bride by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

2000
Alionushka – Way to Go, Balda by B. Kravchenko
Rosina – The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini

2002
Musetta – La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini

2003
Gilda – Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi

2007
Snow Maiden – The Snow Maiden by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

2011
Adin – L'Elisir d'Amore by Gaetano Donizetti
Rosalinda – Strauss-Gala to the music by Johann Strauss II
Shura’s Nanny – A Hussar Ballad by Tikhon Khrennikov

2012
Volkhova – Sadko by N. Rimsky-Korsakov
Zemfira – Aleko by S. Rachmaninov

2013
Gilda – Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi

2015
Daria, prima donna – "Viva la Mamma" by Gaetano Donizetti

2017
Duchess of Cracowthorpe – La Fille du Regiment by Gaetano Donizetti

2018
Rosina – The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart