• Prize-winner at the 51st Tenor Viñas Contest (2014; 4th prize and special prize to the best performer of Russian music)
• Prize-winner at the 33rd International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition (Düsseldorf, 2014; 1st prize)
• Finalist at the 21st World Opera Competition Operalia (Verona, 2013)
• Prize-winner at the 49th Concours international de chant de Toulouse (2012; 2nd Grand Prix)
• Prize-winner at the 3rd Valeria Barsova Russian Vocalists’ Competition (Sochi, 2007; 1st prize)
Irina Churilova was born in Novosibirsk. In 2009 she graduated from the Glinka Novosibirsk State Conservatoire (class of Zinaida Didenko). Has taken part in masterclasses given by Diane Zola and Montserrat Caballé and trained under Enza Ferrari.
From 2008 to 2018 she was a soloist at the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.
Made her Mariinsky Theatre debut in 2013, appearing as Marguerite in the premiere of a new production of Faust. Joined the Mariinsky Opera Company in 2018.
Repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre:
Natasha (Dargomyzhsky’s Mermaid, concert performance)
Tatiana (Eugene Onegin)
Agnès Sorel (The Maid of Orleans)
Maria (Mazepa)
Liza (The Queen of Spades)
Iolanta (Iolanta)
Princess Olga (The Maid of Pskov)
Vera Sheloga (The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga)
Oxana (Christmas Eve)
Tsaritsa Militrisa (The Tale of Tsar Saltan)
Fevroniya (The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya)
Parasha (Mavra)
Princess Urusova (Boyarina Morozova)
Leonora (Il trovatore)
Elena (I vespri siciliani)
Amelia Grimaldi (Simon Boccanegra)
Amelia (Un ballo in maschera)
Leonora (La forza del destino)
Elisabeth de Valois (Don Carlo)
Aida (Aida)
Gioconda (La Gioconda, concert performance)
Desdemona (Verdi’s Otello)
Manon Lescaut (Puccini’s Manon Lescaut)
Mimì (La bohème)
Adriana (Adriana Lecouvreur)
Liù (Turandot)
Elisabeth (Tannhäuser)
Elsa (Lohengrin)
Eva Pogner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg)
Sieglinde (Die Walküre)
The Prima Donna / Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos)
Mathilde (Guillaume Tell, Acts I and II, concert performance)
Valentine (Les Huguenots)
Marguerite (Gounod’s Faust)
Micaëla (Carmen)
Soprano roles in Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, Verdi’s Requiem, Rachmaninoff’s The Bells and Shostakovich’s Fourteenth Symphony
Has taken part in premieres of new Mariinsky Theatre productions of The Queen of Spades (2015), Simon Boccanegra (2016), I vespri siciliani (2017), The Maid of Orleans, Mavra and Tannhäuser (2021), The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya (2022, new revision of the 1994 production), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (2023), Les Huguenots and Ariadne auf Naxos (2024).
Her repertoire also includes: Norma in the eponymous opera, Zemfira (Aleko), Katya (The Passenger), Musetta (La bohème), Nedda (Pagliacci), St Marguerite (Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher), soprano parts in Britten’s War Requiem, Mahler’s Second and Fourth symphonies, Bernstein’s Mass, Gubaidulina’s Über Liebe und Hass; song cycles Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok by Shostakovich and The Nursery by Musorgsky.
Irina Churilova has taken part in on-tour performances of the Mariinsky Company in Baden-Baden, Shanghai (The Queen of Spades), Rome, Paris, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Lucerne, Budapest (Iolanta), Rotterdam (concert of Tchaikovsky’s music), Pamplona (Mahler’s Second Symphony) and Tokyo (Don Carlo and The Queen of Spades). In 2018 she appeared in the world premiere of a new version of Sofia Gubaidulina’s oratorio Über Liebe und Hass conducted by Valery Gergiev in Rotterdam.
As a guest soloist she also performs at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. In 2012 Irina was invited by Montserrat Caballé to take part in her anniversary concert at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, and in 2014 – in her anniversary concert at Madrid’s Teatro Real (together with such singers as José Carreras, Juan Diego Flórez, Joan Pons, Mariella Devia and Carlos Álvarez).
In the 2016–17 season she made her debuts as Norma at the Oper Graz (Austria) and as Aida at the Arena di Verona Opera Festival.
In the 2017–18 season Irina Churilova appeared for the first time at the Savonlinna Opera Festival (Finland) as Liza (The Queen of Spades) and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Verdi-Gala).
In the 2018–19 season she made her debuts at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago (as Norma in Francesca Zambello’s production), Parma’s Teatro Regio (as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera at the premiere of Marina Bianchi’s production) and the Grand Théâtre de Genève (as Amelia at the premiere of Giancarlo del Monaco’s production).
In the 2019–20 season the singer performed the role of Amelia at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Götz Friedrich’s production).
In the 2021–22 season she appeared as Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlo (staged by Marco Arturo Marelli) and as Amelia at that theatre, as Liza at the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Gilbert Deflo’s production) and as Gioconda in La Gioconda at the Teatro alla Scala (staged by Davide Livermore).
In 2023 the artist performed in Andrea Chénier at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, and in 2024 – in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Auditorio de Tenerife; both productions were directed by Nicola Berloffa.
For the role of Liza in The Queen of Spades (Mariinsky Theatre) Irina Churilova received a nomination for Russia’s Golden Mask National Theatre Award.
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