People's Artist of Russia, soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre Irina Dolzhenko (mezzo-soprano) gave master classes for the opera company soloists of the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre.

Irina Dolzhenko is not only a gifted singer but also an experienced teacher: since 2012, she has been teaching  the disciplines Solo Singing and Study of the Concert Repertoire at the Gnessins Russian Academy of Music. Irina Igorevna arrived in Krasnoyarsk for a week: having attended the premiere of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's opera Oprichnik that took place on January 21 and 22, she shares the secrets of vocal skills with Krasnoyarsk performers until January 29.

Soloists Anna Avakyan, Aliona Babivskaya, Olga Basova, Violetta Grishko, Aliona Zafran, Victoria Kangina, Olga Monastyrshina, Natalia Plotnikova, Daria Ryabinko, Anna Kharitonova, Svetlana Cheremnova, Denis Grechishkin, Andrey Kolobov, Dmitri Ryabtsev, Sergei Samusev take part in the master classes. Most of the soloists are busy rehearsing Jacques Offenbach's opera bouffe Barbe-Bleue (rehearsals are in full swing, because the premiere performance already is on January 28); still, despite the heavy workload, they consider it important to learn from the People's Artist of Russia.

Irina Dolzhenko has been a soloist of the opera company of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia since 1996; she sang on the leading opera stages of the world: in theatres of Italy, Austria, Sweden, France, Israel, and others. By the way, her repertoire also includes the role of noblewoman Morozova in the Oprichnik opera, which she performed at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia and at the Cagliari Opera House (Italy, 2003).

The singer is well known in Krasnoyarsk. From 2013 to 2016, Irina Dolzhenko was Artistic Director of the opera company of the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre; later, Artistic Director of opera festivals and touring opera projects of the Theatre. The Krasnoyarsk opera habitues rewarded her with thunderous applause for her performances of the roles of Carmen (Bizet's Carmen), Countess (Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades), Amneris and Azucena in Verdi's operas Aida and Il Trovatore respectively, Spring and Lyubasha in The Snow Maiden and Tsar's Bride by Rimsky-Korsakov. The performances of Irina Dolzhenko at the concerts of the festival Stars Parade at the Opera also remain fixed in the Krasnoyarsk audience’s memory.