The upcoming performance of Alexander Tchaikovsky’s opera To Love in War (November 27) will feature a double debut by Yanis Shklyaev — a young tenor who joined the company of the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre in its 48th season.

For the first time, Yanis will appear on the theatre’s stage as an opera soloist and will present his interpretation of the tragic role of the soldier Afonya. The world premiere of To Love in War based on the wartime prose of Viktor Astafyev (two novellas The Shepherd and the Shepherdess, Falling Stars) took place in May 2025. The production was dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War and the writer’s 101st birthday.

Yanis Shklyaev was born in Nazarovo, the Krasnoyarsk Region. He graduated from the Faculty of Vocal Arts of the Ivanov-Radkevich Krasnoyarsk College of Arts. Then, he completed his mandatory military service as a member of the Alexandrov Ensemble of the Russian Army. He later performed as a soloist with the Siberian Men’s Choir (Krasnoyarsk).

In 2019, Yanis entered the Faculty of Solo Singing and Opera Training at the Hvorostovsky Siberian State Institute of Arts; in 2020, he continued his studies at the Schnittke Moscow State Institute of Music. After graduating, he refined his vocal craft under vocal coach Inna Glinskaya (Voytik) and Arkady Mishenkin-Yakovlev, former soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre.

In 2024, he joined the opera company of the Glinka Chelyabinsk Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, where he performed roles such as Vladimir Igorievich (Prince Igor by Borodin), Beppe (Pagliacci by Leoncavallo), Bayan (Ruslan and Lyudmila by Glinka), Sopel (Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov), Triquet and Chaplitsky (Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky), Pong (Turandot by Puccini), among others.

Yanis Shklyaev is a First Prize winner of the Reinhold Glière International Vocal Competition (Moscow, 2022) and the First Prize laureate of the International Youth Music Competition dedicated to Stravinsky (St. Petersburg, 2025).