Irina Bogatchova, mezzo-soprano, graduated from the Leningrad Conservatoire in the stu dio of Professor I. Levando. In 1962 she was a laureate at the All-Union Glinka Competition and in 1967 won Grand Prix at the International Competition of Opera Singers in Rio de Janeiro. Since 1963 Bogatchova has been a soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre. From 1968- 1970 she studied with Professor Barr at La Scala, Italy. Her roles in the Mariinsky Theatre have included: Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen; Amneris in Aida, Eboli in Don Carlo, Azucena in il Trovatore, Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi, Marina Mnishek in Boris Godunov, Marfa in Khovanshchina by Mussorgsky, Lyubasha in The Tsar’s Bride, Kashcheyevna in Kashchei the Immortal by Rimsky-Korsakov, Countess and Polina in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades and others. She has also sung as a guest soloist in many international premieres. Bogatcho va maintains a high profile with recitals in Italy, Norway, France, China, Spain, Japan, South Korea, Great Britain, Germany and other countries. She was the first to perform Shostakovich’s vocal cycle Six Poems by Marina Tsvetayeva at the request of the composer himself. Irina Bogatchova is People’s Artist of the USSR and recipient of the highest honours and national prizes; she is Head of the Vocal Department at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire and Honorary Citizen of St. Petersburg.