My Story

I grew up in Novosibirsk, Siberia, in a family where opera wasn't something you went to see — it was the language spoken at home. My father, Valery Egudin, was a dramatic tenor and People's Artist of the USSR. He performed Otello, Radames, and Hermann for over thirty years on the stage of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, and taught voice at the Glinka Conservatory until the end of his life. Opera was never abstract to me. It was just Tuesday.

I trained at the Glinka Conservatory and joined NOVAT as a Young Artist in 2012, performing major contralto and mezzo roles in local and international productions. In 2018 I moved to the United States, and within a year made my Carnegie Hall debut. I have worked with teachers including Mignon Dunn and Richard Barrett, and I continue to build my career in the New York opera scene.

Then came COVID, a husband, two children born close together, and the beautiful chaos that followed. My professional singing career is on pause right now — not forever, just for now. While I find my way back to the stage, I am doing something else I love: talking about opera with people who are curious about it.

I am also back in school, studying anatomy and biology. I am not sure exactly where that leads — maybe it deepens my understanding of the voice, maybe it opens a different door entirely. A Master's in opera performance means something specific in Russia. Here, you figure it out as you go.

What I know is this: I do not want to give monologues. I want conversations. I want to know what you hear when you listen, what confuses you, what moves you. Opera gave me a language for the biggest human experiences. I want to share that — not lecture about it.