On 17 January, the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre joined the rest of the country in celebrating Artists Day for the first time. A key highlight of the occasion was a special awards ceremony.

On that day, People’s Artists of Russia Larisa Marzoeva and Vladimir Yefimov, along with Honoured Artists of Russia Olga Akinfeeva, Vera Baranova, Vera Surovtseva, and Oleg Alekseyev met with audiences for a warm, informal conversation, sharing stories from their lives on stage. These theatre legends are recipients of an award established as a symbol of the highest artistic mastery and dedication to the art form. In turn, they presented silver badges to young talents who have already earned recognition from audiences.

The recipients of the silver badges were:

Sevastian Martyniuk, opera soloist

Ruslan Abolmasov, principal ballet dancer 

Makar Vakhrushev, orchestra trumpeter

Ilya Kulakov, choir artist

Taisia Toroshchina, performer with the O-Studio

As a reminder, Artists Day is a newly established professional holiday honouring performers in theatre, film, circus, popular entertainment, and music. It was introduced in July 2025 on the initiative of Vladimir Mashkov, Chair of the Russian Theatre Union.