Ilya Kuzmin graduated from the Gnessins Academy of Music (Professor Levko's class) in 2000. In the same year he became first a trainee and then a staff member of the Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow. His debut in the role of Hamlet in Thomas's opera of the same name was a great success.
He participated in productions of various theatres in Russia and abroad such as La Scala in Milan, Staatsoper Berlin, the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, the Musa Jalil Tatar State Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre.
The singer works with numerous music teams, including the Novaya Rossiya State Symphony Orchestra: (artistic director Yuri Bashmet),the Evgeny Svetlanov State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia (artistic director Vladimir Jurowsky),the Orpheus Radio Symphony Orchestra (artistic director Sergey Kondrashov),the State Hermitage Orchestra (St. Petersburg),the Musica Viva Moscow Chamber Orchestra (artistic director Alexander Rudin),the Leonid Nikolaev Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia (artistic director Vasily Valitov).
In 2010, he was nominated for the Golden Mask Award ("Opera/Best Actor") for the part of Gianni Schicchi in Puccini’s opera of the same name. This production won a Special Award of the Musical Theatre Jury. In 2015, he performed the leading roles of Henry Bowman and Aeneas in the DIDO production to Michael Nyman’s and Henry Purcell’s music. This production, too, won a Golden Mask Special Award of the Musical Theatre Jury.
In 2011, he received a certificate of acknowledgment from the Russian Minister of Culture and in 2017, a certificate of acknowledgment for his contribution to the development of culture in Moscow and for many years of conscientious work.
Ilya Kuzmin is one of the few excellent contemporary interpreters of Russian and foreign chamber and cantata-oratorio music. His repertoire includes pieces by Bach, Handel, Mendelson, Schubert, Schuman, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Sviridov, Medtner and some others.
Awards and Honours:
- Winner of the Clear Sound International Prize for the best audio recording of Russian academic music in the “Chamber Vocal Music” category (1st grade, Moscow, 2019)
- Prize-winner of the Belvedere International Competition (1st prize, 2004, Vienna)
- Prize-winner of the Obraztsova International Contest for Young Singers (3rd prize, 2003, Saint Petersburg)
Roles performed at the Novaya Opera:
Mizgir in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden
Onegin in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
Robert in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta
Belcore in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore
Hamlet in Thomas's Hamlet
Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola
Gianni Schicchi in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi
Germont in Verdi's La Traviata
Olivier in Strauss's Capriccio
Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (Production by Achim Freyer and Fairy-tale with pictures by Anna Levicheva)
Silvio in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci
Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia
Boyar-in-Attendance, Shchelkalov in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov
Prince Yeletsky, Zlatogor in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades
Count Ceprano, Marullo in Verdi's Rigoletto
Valentin in Gounod's Faust
Henry Bowman, Aeneas in Michael Nyman and Henry Purcell's DIDO
Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro
Marcello in Puccini's La bohème
Mercutio in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette
Peter in Engelbert Humperdinck's The Gingerbread House, or Hänsel und Gretel
Tadeusz in Weinberg's The Passenger
Uteshitelny in Shostakovich's The Gamblers
Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly
Junius in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia
Valerka in Shelygin's The Toy Seller
Le Dancaïre in Bizet's Carmen
Fritz in Korngold's Die tote Stadt
Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (in concert)
Mercutio in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette (in concert)
Jokanaan in Strauss' Salome (in concert)
Giacomo in Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco (in concert)
Plumkett in Flotow's Martha, oder der Markt zu Richmond (in concert)
Herr Fluth in Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (in concert)
Pandolfe in Massenet's Cendrillon (in concert)
Parts in the productions:
Four Operetta Kings (concert)
Beethoven's Welsh Songs
Orff's Carmina Burana
Vincenzo Bellini (concert)
Music Is My Soul (concert)
Mozart. Arias (concert)
Maria Callas (Musical offering)
Parade of Basses and Baritones (gala concert)
Tribute to Evgeny Kolobov (concert)
Romances by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergey Rachmaninov (concert)
Waltzes, Tangos & Foxtrots (gala concert)
Bravissimo! (opera mix)
Rossini (musical divertissement)
This is Opera! (dramatized performance)
Opera&Jazz (New Year's Eve Show)
Discography:
Giuseppe Verdi. Rigoletto (DVD) — Marullo
“Bravissimo!” (DVD)
