The April schedule at the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre features new performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto. Following the opera’s highly successful premiere run in February during the Stars Parade at the Opera. Slovtsov festival, guest soloist and international competition laureate Yekaterina Begunovich will reprise her acclaimed role as Gilda on April 3 and 4.

A native of Krasnoyarsk, Begunovich launched her career on this very stage. From 2014 to 2018, she was a soloist with O-Studio, the children’s opera studio affiliated with the theatre, before graduating with honours from the Hvorostovsky Siberian State Institute of Arts, where she studied under Vera Baranova, People’s Artist of Russia and professor.

Today, Yekaterina Begunovich is a principal soloist at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre (NOVAT), where she performs leading roles such as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, the Nightingale in Stravinsky’s eponymous opera, and Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème. In 2024, she won Second Prize at the prestigious 27th Glinka International Vocalists Competition, and in 2025, she was nominated for the National Opera Award Onegin for her portrayal of the Nightingale.

Krasnoyarsk audiences have already witnessed her artistry firsthand: in February 2026, her premiere performances as Gilda were met with enthusiastic acclaim. Now, those who missed the initial run—or simply wish to hear their hometown soprano’s crystalline voice once again—have another chance to do so.

Rigoletto directed by Sergei Novikov is a co-production with the Pushkin Nizhny Novgorod Opera and Ballet Theatre.