The Russian singer Anna Kazakova studied with Helen Obraztsova at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and after receiving her MA she was accepted as a soloist at the Moscow State Philharmonic Society. Later she worked as a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater and the Moscow Stanislavski Academic Musical Theater. She is currently the leading soloist at the Helicon opera theater, Moscow, Russia. She divides her time between Moscow and Portland, Oregon, and regularly performs with the Portland and Seattle area orchestras.
Ms. Kazakova made her debut at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the role of Olga in The Maid of Pskov by Rimsky-Korsakov. One of the key roles of Ms. Kazakova is the part of Tatiana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, which has provided an introduction for her to many important theaters, such as Budapest National Opera and the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. The soprano made her first appearance at France National Opera in 1999 as Rozalinda in Fledermaus by R. Strauss in a production conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich and she was highly praised and promoted by the conductor.
Ms. Kazakova appeared in different Russian opera theaters in the roles of Michaela in Carmen, Mimi in La Bohème, Elvira in Ermani, Alice in Falstaff , and Gulietta in Les Contes d'Hoffman. The last role was also heard in Paris in 2000. Ms. Kazakova has extensively performed the soprano part in such works as J. S. Bach’s Messa B-moll, J. Haydn’s Stabat Mater, and G. Verdi’s Requiem. Russian opera has featured prominently in Ms. Kazakova’s repertoir. She has performed the roles of Zemfira in Rakhmaninov’s Aleko, Melitrisa in The Tale of Tzar Saltan by Rimsky-Korsakov, Iolanta in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and Liza in The Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky in the theaters all over Europe and in Boston, USA.
Ms. Kazakova frequently performs in concerts with chamber vocal music of Russian, Italian and French composers as well as with concert music of contemporary authors. In 1997 and 2000 she performed Requem by V. Artemov with the Russian National Orchestra in the Bolshoi Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory. In 2001 she performed I. Strauss's music with the Austrian Strauss Orchestra in Spain.
In addition to winning the First Prize at the International Vocal Competition in Great Britain in 1993, Ms. Kazakova received the most prestigious Russian theater award for the singers in 2001: the Russian State Prize The Golden Mask, for the role of Katerina Izmailova in Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.