Larisa Ezhelenko

Larisa Ezhelenko was born in December 1967 in Novosibirsk. In 1973, she went to the Specialist Music School attached to the Novosibirsk Academy of Music in the piano class of Irina Bermann. It was during this period that Larisa discovered a love of singing, taking part in a specially composed opera called Cinderella by Ilya Alexandrov with contributions by the students. Then, in 1986, after receiving a diploma, she went on to study piano at the Novosibirsk Academy with Mark Shaviner. After graduation, she worked for 5 years as an accompanist at the Academy working with student singers in the Vocal Department. During this period, she gave many concerts in the Novosibirsk area mostly of music of the Romantic period.

In 1993, Larisa began to study singing at a musical college in the Vocal Department. Then she began to study singing at the Novosibirsk Academy at the second level, since she had already graduated in piano. After three years of study she graduated with a diploma in singing. During this period, Larisa began working with the Markellovi Golosa (Markellov's Voices), a choral ensemble connected with the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra. She was often invited to sing solo soprano in works such as the Stabat Mater by Pergolesi and the Christmas Oratorio by Bach, which they performed both in the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Hall and in the Tchaikovsky Philharmonic Hall in Moscow.

After graduating for a second time in 1999, Larisa gave many concerts in and around Novosibirsk many of which she organised herself with the help of specially invited musicians. Over a period of several years, Larisa gave a series of concerts in the impressive Concert Hall of the Novosibirsk Local History Museum, one of the very best halls in the area, where she performed various programmes, including Christmas Sacred Music, Russian romances, Polish music and programmes of early music. Larisa also took part in concert scenes from operas like The Silken Ladder by Rossini, The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, and The Elixir of Love by Donizetti.

In September 2012, Larisa took part in a series of masterclasses by Andrew Lawrence-King and Marco Beasley at the Open Academy of Baroque Music in St Petersburg. After studying music by composers like Monteverdi and Cavallieri, Larisa received a certificate of participation.